Coming Full Circle
by potterfan36041
Summary: Everything has been quiet in Reefside for the last year. The Power Rangers have taken the break at a great risk, two of their rangers await a child, but will Mesogogg let it be peaceful for them? Last chapter up!
1. The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson, as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning.

_Thanks to everyone that reviewed "The Passing of the Torch", I hope that you will enjoy the final story!_

Now, on with the story!

_Tommy's POV _

It has been almost a year since Mesogogg's last major attack on the town of Reefside and I couldn't be happier about the lull in activity. He sends some tryadrones every so often, but Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent have been able to handle them without too much help from me, as Kim has been gladly sitting these last few battles out on the couch downstairs. While her belly continues to grow, with our baby's birth only a few weeks away, she lets me know that it is perfectly fine if I have to go out, although I do not want to leave her. I don't feel as if she is protected when I am gone, not that telling her that has helped me any. She just tells me that Alpha and Hayley will look after her while I'm gone.

It is a blessing that we got pregnant when we did, as Mesogogg has given us this long lull in the action, due to our last major battle with him. Even knowing that Mesogogg has not pressed us as other creatures of his type have in the past, we know deep down it is only a matter of time before he resurfaces, with more power than he ever had before. At least if history repeats itself one more time. It seems that every other evil that has come back has been stronger than it ever was before. I'm scared that, that might happen this time and I don't know if I can take it, not with everything that I have at risk in my life if things were to go wrong.

Kim's pregnancy has gone rather smoothly, which is something I am truly thankful for; after all, of the bumps we have had in every other aspect of our relationship until now. The first few months, she occasionally had morning sickness, but it soon passed and she has happily watched her weight gain, while I have tried to hide my worries from her, about everything that could happen to her and the baby. She has had some more mood swings lately, but I think that most of it is coming from having to really slow down everything that she is doing, which aggravates her to no end. She's always been active and this is different for her. She has no choice but to slow down and I know she hates when I point that out to her.

The few times that I have been called out to battle, I worry that Mesogogg will come after her, but Alpha assures me that he would detect the attack long before it came anywhere close to this house or anywhere that she is. Not that it matters to me, I still rush home to make sure she is all right and she has been every time that I have gone out there. Most of time she will be asleep and she won't even know about the battle, but that is really better for her. She sleeps a lot more lately, but I'm just glad to know that nothing has happened to her while I have been gone. I don't know what I would do if he were to decide to take the two of them away from me, but I am sure that it would not be good for whoever received my fury, even if it was accidentally some of my friends.

During this past year, a lot of things have happened to our friends, as well. Jason and Trini got married a little over four months ago, which made them only the second Power Ranger couple to tie the knot, in the history of all of the couples that we know about. They went to Hawaii for their honeymoon and I can honestly say that I have never seen the two of them any happier. I'm glad to know that the two of them have our backs in all of this, as they have prepared themselves for everything that might happen over the next few months. Including a very long battle that will eventually rage between us and the evildoers.

Jason called, just the other day, to check up on how things were going around here. He hasn't been able to come down here as much as he would like, to help us with everything. Kim went off on him a couple of weeks ago and it has kept him away. He just wants to keep the peace over the next few weeks and that seems to help. He knows that the next time Mesogogg fully emerges from the darkness that has covered him lately, that it will be time for the final battle against him, we really do not have much of a choice this time. We can't keep on fighting with the way that things are going right now. We have to be careful, there is more than just rangers that are at risk now; there are children and marriages that could be torn apart as well. Those things are not something that any of us are comfortable risking, but we have to deal with it. If we don't, we will deal with the likes of Mesogogg forever.

Over the last year, I have seen the veteran Power Ranger's preparing themselves for the inevitable challenge that lies ahead of us. It is something that is more likely to be done with all of us working than just the people that are currently rangers. I never thought that all of them would really have to come back again, but they do and so do I this time. Rocky, is the one who has taken it the toughest, as Ally is not accustomed to what is going to happen when things start going towards that shift, but we all know she will stick it out. If she made it through him losing his powers, they can make it through anything that this life throws at them, I know that much from experience.

That brings around the subject of the dojo, which happens to be thriving and that is a blessing and a curse in some ways. Rocky and I have both had to increase our workload and the gymnastics academy has more than doubled its enrollment since last year at this time. That was not something that we really expected, but it will be a great business for us once things calm down some. Poor Ally has been overwhelmed by the number of students she now has to teach, as Kim stopped teaching roughly a month after we found out about her being pregnant.

Tanya thinks it is too much of a risk for her to continue with any activities like that, although she does not know about Kim being back on active duty as a ranger. Although Tanya was and is one of us, we cannot risk anymore people knowing about our involvement in the battle against Mesogogg and his forces. There is too much at stake to admit it to anyone right now, although she could probably look at our wrists and figure it out, if she took the time to do that. We just have to try to keep it from being well known and we have managed to do that, so far.

Ultimately, this last battle will come down to if our training is going to be able to stand the test of time. Mesogogg has been rebuilding his army of tryadrones, which was depleted in the last major battle we fought against him. It worries me how long it has taken for the battles to slowly begin again, as it seems we are waiting out the calm before a storm we know is coming in the near future. A future in which there may not be a need for rangers, if we manage to win against him this time.

AN: I know that this is a short chapter, but I wanted to get everyone up to date on what happened in between stories and I hope that you enjoy the rest of this one!


	2. Someone Else's Thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning.

**lil sweetie:** I will, but sorry about the wait.

**XRachX:** How do I put this? I don't hate her, but I don't know much about her, but she will seem nicer during later chapters.

**TrueRomantic:** Thanks, I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

**margieboots:** Well, it's in his nature, at least that's what I think. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter!

Now, on with the Story!

_We're Taking Our Chances _

_Richard's POV_

We have been working for the last ten months on trying to get ourselves ready to go up against the Power Rangers again and I think that we are finally close enough to actually believe that we will be able to do that in the near future. I just don't know if I can really go through with all of the things that Mesogogg has planned. With the way that Mesogogg seems to want things to go, he does not want to just harm the rangers. He wants to harm anyone that gets in his way and there are still some innocent people that are associated with the rangers. Actually, come to think of it, the rangers are innocent themselves, they are just carrying out the responsibility bestowed upon them. I don't know what they would do if children got hurt because Mesogogg deemed them "in the way" of his progress.

I still can not shake the feelings that I feel for Kimberly Hart, hold it, now she's Kimberly Oliver, but it doesn't really matter what her name is, she's a Power Ranger and that means I should hate her. However, I don't. Really, it's more like I can't get myself to do that. She saw some good in me, no matter how short of a time it was, she did and I'm still grateful for that. She thinks I'm a creep now and I would if I were her too. The only thing is I can't focus on my job because of her and I don't really like the whole plan that we are going to use against them. It doesn't seem to be as fool proof as everything else that we have tried against them, we all know that, but Mesogogg will not listen to reason on this one. He just wants to battle them, no matter what that may cost us in the end.

Mesogogg has decided that we are going to wait a few more weeks before we attack Reefside with the majority of our full force being brought back into play for the first time in almost a year. Then, we will really know what we are up against and who we are going to be up against. He seems to think that the best thing to do would be to have to get Tommy to choose between his wife and fighting us, which is just cruel, although that is what Mesogogg specializes in. I couldn't do half the things that he does, but that doesn't really matter. I'm here working for him and I have to do what he says or I am as good as dead.

Hell, the man is even fighting his own son and he doesn't give a damn about what happens to him or anyone else he fights, but neither does Zeltrax when he goes up against Tommy. I just don't understand how they can not care about the people that they knew and were friends with at one time, but it seems that Tommy Oliver was only a way to find out more information about something that he took away from them, without a second thought as to what it might do to them. Yeah, he was a great source of information and a huge threat to our whole plan, which is why he should have never been brought in, in the first place. They thought that they were getting a scientist. They wound up getting an ex-ranger and a scientist, all in one package, which was not something that helped their cause at all. They didn't do their research, which puts us in the situation we are in now.

Some of the other people that are helping Mesogogg are getting just as antsy as I am about all of this starting up again. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to know this, but I know that Zeltrax has been monitoring the Oliver's residence and activities without authorization from Mesogogg for a very long time now. He seems to have become obsessed with finding a weakness in Tommy; one that we can exploit, but nothing seems to be good enough for him. He feels as if Tommy took something away from him, but I have no clue what it could be. The dino gems were never really that important to him at least that is what he says to all of us. I mean, Tommy never dated anyone that he loved and he never was Mercer's favorite, by any means, it's just something else, something that is much worse.

So, if he were to ever be discovered by Tommy or any of the other rangers that frequently visit their home, I doubt that he would make it to an invisaportal fast enough to save himself or even let out a cry of help. The mad ranger would take care of him and sound the alert that we, indeed, were back to our old ways and he would be gone, faster than we could come help him. He seems to have this thing against Tommy, not that I blame him, but it gets in the way of everything else that we are trying to do and Mesogogg keeps on briefing us on new things every few days and today happens to be one of those days.

"Well, it seems that the rangers have a little situation brewing down there and look at the position that it is putting Thomas Oliver in, right as we are about to start attacking with full force," Mesogogg said as his cohorts settled into their places around the room, carefully avoiding his disturbing gaze. He was furious that they had not been able to build a big enough army to take advantage of the one thing that could be considered a disadvantage for the rangers sooner. They had finally gotten enough reserves to battle with them as they had almost a year ago. The thing was, they did not know what Tommy, and his rangers had been working on during their leave of absence. It could possibly make all of their improvements a day late and a dollar short, as they were sure to expect them to try to modify their warriors and they had, but not as much as they wanted to. They just needed to start fighting them again, that was what was important to him. "He has always been able to easily avoid choosing between his family and his self imposed duty as a ranger. We want to push him to choose between the two and then we can see what type of damage we might be able to deal to his heart. He is a strong man, but he is human and he does have a heart that can hurt him as badly as anything else that we might do to him, including taking his wife away."

"I don't know if that is a good idea," Zeltrax said, as he braced himself for possible punishment but did not receive any without completely finishing his thought, as they all could tell that there was much more to that statement. He had been watching Tommy a great deal more than he was supposed to, but he found out that messing with his family and friends was a sure fire way to get their asses whooped by him and the others that would be told as soon as he found out. They didn't need to risk that or he was likely to destroy them as quickly as he could and all of their hard work would be for nothing. "If something were to happen to his wife because we held him back, there is no telling what they, excuse me he, would do to us after that. We don't want to make him mad. We just want him to be forced to fight, when he's mad he is much more lethal. I know that from experience."

"Are you suggesting that we do not take advantage of this obvious weakness in the rangers leader? We have nothing else to work with, nothing else we can use against them," Mesogogg asked, taking steps towards him and watching as Richard and Elsa took steps away from Zeltrax, knowing that he was sure to be furious with him. They agreed with what was being said, but they were not ready to tell him off, as of yet. None of them wanted to make him mad, but his ideas were becoming more and more far fetched and it was not working for any of them. They wanted those dino gems, but they did not want to have to risk themselves so much to get them. They could not do stupid things or they would be defeated the way that all of the other opponents of the Power Rangers had been. "If you do not remember what he was like when he first came to help with our research, so help me. Maybe I should have tried to bribe him into working for me instead of you, although I don't think it would have worked, but at least I would know that he had a brain."

"That's not something I am ever likely to forget, but he had just had his most recent powers taken away from him, what do you expect out of the man? He has his full strength right now and he's no shady fighter, either, if you don't remember that one, of course you have never fought against him. Have you? We're always the ones that have to deal directly with him and the rangers. He could take out all of us and if you underestimate him, you're the stupid one, Mesogogg, not us. We know what he can do and we know what he could have possibly taught those rangers. They are going to be ready for us," Zeltrax said, as Mesogogg could only stare at him for challenging his authority. None of them had ever done that, but he was going to pay soon, if he did not shut his mouth.

"Listen, Zeltrax is right. Tommy knows what he is doing and I doubt that he has not taught his rangers everything that he knows and then some if he was able to. They take his karate class and probably a few more if they are able to find the time. He is getting ready for a final battle and we are not doing that. We just want to be able to fight them again," Elsa said, as Mesogogg shifted his gaze from Zeltrax to her and she felt a chill run down her spine at the look he was giving her. He was furious at them for this, but he could not help to see some truth in what they were saying and they were trying to get their small point across. He just wanted to fight them some more, the rangers wanted to have a final battle and get their lives back to normal. "And if you go after his wife, there is no telling what he will be able to do to us because of the rage that we will cause him to experience. It is not wise to induce rage from this man, I know from experience. I've done that more than once while working with him and every time, I was the one that was made to look like a fool, not him. He suspects something, I know he does and we don't want to push that going after his baby and his wife will do that."

"Well, we just have to risk things. He is also known to not think logically when things happen to his wife and we can only guess what he will do if something happens to the baby. He's human; he is bound to break sometime. We just have to get him to the point where he is about to break," Mesogogg said, as they stared at him.

It was one thing to suggest that they push the issue, they could understand that, but to go after the baby was idiotic, if not deadly for all of them. They knew how Tommy thought, just as well as he did, but he was choosing to avoid the information that he knew, in order to hope for some huge personal gain. They, however, thought that it would not be a gain for them. It would be a great loss for all of them if they tried to press this issue to a breaking point, but they could not get him to understand that.

"Are you suggesting that we try to do something to their baby?" Richard asked as he felt his own stomach lurch to think about what that would do to the girl that he was once good friends with and he had wished that it had stayed that way now. However, he had chosen this path in his life and now he had to live with the consequences, which could possibly lead to his death at her hands or her husband's. Mesogogg was going to get all of them killed if he was not careful, but it did not seem that he cared about it at all. He was too obsessed with trying to get the dino gems to see the obvious flaws that were showing in his idea. If he went after one of the rangers, he would pull all of them in and they didn't want that. They just wanted them to have to battle them again.

"Well, we might have to do that. We have no advantage to push except for the fact that the pink ranger is pregnant, with his child, and if that is what it takes to weaken them, then we'll do it. They have nothing else that we can go against," Mesogogg said viciously, as he pounded his scale-covered fist on the table in front of him.

He had known since the first day that he seen Tommy Oliver step into his laboratory that he would be the making or the breaking of this program that he was trying so feverishly to keep going right now. Why he had thought that at first, was beyond him, but he understood it now, in more ways than he had ever imagined. The fact that he had been a ranger was pretty crazy to find out, but it did explain why he was able to recognize things in the dino gems that would have taken him years to find. It also explained why he was smart enough to grab them before he fled the island and that had left them without the power source that they had been depending on. He knew that they would be used for evil if he left them and he was right about that one. He was also right about a lot of other things that no one else understood.

"What about the rangers that we had to fight against last time, huh? They are just as good as Kim and Tommy and I personally don't want to deal with them again if I can avoid it. You need to think this through before you do something rash. We could all get ourselves killed if we do something stupid. You need to remember that when you're risking our lives as well," Elsa said as they looked over at her, surprised she was brave enough to point this out to Mesogogg, as they had all been thinking about it.

"Those rangers will not be involved in this battle. They are too old to do the job efficiently. You should know that only the young survive as rangers," Mesogogg said, trying to make her back down without an argument ensuing. She, however, had brought out a rather important point. There were older rangers that could be involved here and they would be more than willing to fight until they could fight no more.

"So are Kim and Tommy, if you think of it like that. They looked to be the same age as them. Age does not seem to have anything to do with how well they do the job, as the older ones sure as hell are strong enough to take us out without a second thought. The young ones may be able to take some rougher blows from us, but the older ones can deal the roughest blows of all. They've seen some hard times and those hard times are what made them able to do all of this well," Zeltrax said and Mesogogg then stunned the three of them, which caused them to close their mouths about the situation. They did not need to be injured by him, as well as the rangers, over the next few weeks. They weren't behind him on this, but they had no choice, they'd die at his hands if they tried to truly break away from him.

"We're just taking our chances," Mesogogg said, as they all scrambled away to work on the various projects that needed to be completed. They had the idea that Mesogogg was possibly going to get them killed, but they would have a better chance fighting the rangers than having to deal with him.

AN: I know that this is another short chapter, but I just wanted to get you caught up and what the evildoers are thinking and trust me the later chapters will be much longer.


	3. A Baby Shower and a Little Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, and Mallory Wiggins.

Now, on with the Story!

My Last Day of Work 

_Kim's POV_

Well, the day has finally come for me to quit working at the elementary school for a few months and go on maternity leave, which is something I have been looking forward to more and more lately. My due date is still about a month away, but Tanya and some of the other doctors at the hospital think that it is best for me to go ahead and take off earlier than normal, just to be on the safe side. I don't have any condition that would make it necessary for the baby to be born early, but I've already dilated some and standing as much as I do, does not keep that situation from progressing anymore, which is something that they would like to prevent. My fellow teachers decided that they wanted to give me a little party today, so before I can go home to Tommy, I have a party to attend.

"Kimberly Oliver, why are you still working on your lesson plans? I'm sure that we can help your substitute teacher if you missed something and you are not supposed be over stressing yourself right now, missy. You don't want me to tell Tommy about how you have been acting today," Janice Mitchell said, walking in to see the very pregnant kindergarten teacher still writing away on her lesson plans, as if her life might be taken away if they did not contain every bit of information that she could think about telling the substitute. She had always been thorough, but there were times when they wished she would just calm down and not worry about it. She had enough stress in her life that she did not need to add any more self-induced stress to that plate. She however didn't understand that concept.

Janice was a second grade teacher and she happened to be four rooms down the hall from her, but the two of them were fairly good friends, despite the age difference, as she had been teaching for nearly twenty years and did not feel the need to retire anytime soon. She was about the same height as Kim, but she had short brown hair with bangs and wore small, rimmed glasses, due to her eyesight having started to go away from her over the past few years, which was something she was not too happy to admit. She had been able to go years without them and she was not too happy to have to consent to wearing them now.

When Kim had first started teaching at the school, the administration had somehow managed to give her one of the hardest classes that had ever been assembled at Reefside Elementary. She, somehow, made it through it and got rehired the next year, which let them know that she was probably there to stay, unless she choose to leave them on her own.

After her marriage, many had thought that she would slow down her life some and try to enjoy it and everything that was going on with her new husband, but that didn't seem to be what was on her mind. During the remainder of that particular school year, she had been the head of a committee, taught extra gymnastics classes and had somehow managed to begin working on her master's, although she had, had to put it on hold due to unknown circumstances.

Most of the staff thought she was overstressed and had just had to let something go, but the ones who really knew her best thought it was something more. She always seemed to have this secret that she was having to hide from all of them, but as she had never caused them any trouble, they never asked about it. It just seemed like it was something that was normal for her to keep that way and they did not question the little bit of normalcy in her life.

When they found out that she was pregnant after school got out at the end of the year, last year, they had immediately taken it upon themselves to try to make this school year less stressful and it had been, for the most part, but there were still some things that they could not do anything about. That mainly had to deal with the administration and how they acted towards her on a daily basis. They came down on her harder than they usually would and she could not help but not understand why it was like that, when she had done nothing to cause it. She tried to avoid the principal and not do anything that would upset her, but she still didn't like Kim at all. None of them could explain why the administration was acting like that towards her, other than the fact that their principal was a friend with Randall and Tommy and Randall weren't friends, at all.

Most of her friends had tried to comfort her while she was at school, after Principal McEntire came down on her particularly hard, but on a few occasions she had, had to leave the school, as the stress was not good for her or the baby. They got the feeling that she had gone to the high school to see Tommy and he sent her home, for the day, knowing that if she went back, she was likely to do something she would regret. They needed both of their jobs to be kept afloat and they all had hoped that Kim would be able to take off a little bit longer, as she had not been taking many days off at all, but their principal was not budging on allowing her to have a few extra days of peace. The only reason she had allowed to leave early was because Tanya sent a notice that Kim was to take off on this date and for six weeks after the date that the baby was born.

"I'm not over stressing myself, I just thought of some details I left out about some of the kids when I talked to her this afternoon. She needs to be prepared for what she is getting herself into with these kids. Most five year olds don't like a change this big. It is just not in their nature to adjust to something like this easily and I don't want to hear from Principal McEntire while I'm gone. Tanya has made it very clear that I am supposed to rest while I'm not working and if she calls I certainly won't be resting," Kim said, as she pushed her chair away from her desk and slowly stood up and stretched her back as much as she could.

Her belly had now grown to where she could no longer see her feet and most morning's Tommy had to put on her shoes for her, but he had been patient through all of it and was just happy that she and the baby were doing fine, which was a small miracle considering how most other things in their life went. He was really happy with all of this and that baby meant more to him than anything and almost anyone, except her and most people that knew them, knew that. She had had some horrible mood swings lately, but he had taken it well, everything was fine right now and he was more than willing to deal with it again. As long as he could see her be happy later, she could cuss him out anytime she wanted to do so.

"Is Tommy going to be able to make it down here today?" Janice asked, as she had to admit that with him around they didn't worry about having to tell Kim to slow down, she just did. It was like when she saw him, she knew that he would not be happy if she tried to push her body any more than she already was and by him acting like that, they knew that she would be even more careful in his presence.

"No, he has two classes to teach at the dojo this afternoon and then I think he wants to start working on the nursery before I get home," Kim said, waddling down the hall, towards the library where they had chosen to hold the party. It was farther away from her room than any other place in the building, but it did have to most room and that counted for something. "Although I asked him to start working on it earlier during the week, but he has always been a procrastinator. I guess that is something that I should have gotten used to a long time ago. It's nothing to really get mad about; he'll do it on his own time frame. I just don't know if I can stand that time frame waiting much longer. He only has a few more weeks to get everything done."

"Does he have some painting to do?" Janice asked, as she had heard about the way that they were going to decorate the nursery, but she had no clue as to what extent that it had been worked on as of yet.

"Yeah, that's the main reason he wants to get started before I get there. If he can get that done before I get home, then I can help him with some of the other small stuff," Kim said, as she opened the door to the library. Several of the teachers stopped their talking for a few seconds before resuming it, knowing that this was no surprise to her.

"So, does the baby keep you awake a lot?" Janice asked, as she could remember her own children kicking her often enough to make sleep nearly impossible some nights and she hoped that her friend was not going through that. She could, also, remember what it was like to wake her husband in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep and needed someone to fix her something to eat, not that he was a great cook, but anything tasted good then.

"No, but when little one here decides to kick me, I know that the baby is its father's child. I don't think that I could kick that hard if I even tried to and the way that Tommy is with karate, it shouldn't surprise me at all that this baby can kick. It's funny, Tommy can sit there for hours with his hand on my belly and feel the baby kick, he'll just smile, and it's not so bad, the baby's a ham, likes to do nice things for Daddy. It just seems that when he is away and the baby kicks, it always aims for one of my organs," Kim said, placing a hand on her belly, as the light pink shirt shied away from her body ever now and then and she was trying to keep it in place.

"Are your other friends holding a shower for you?" Janice asked, as she saw some of them appear at the entrance to the library and she wondered if they had been able to keep it a secret from her.

Their boyfriend's or husband's had all gone to help Tommy with the nursery, so that most of the work would be done by the time that they got home this afternoon. She could only hope that they would not surprise her too much, as she had heard some of the horror stories of what happened to Kim when she was surprised and that was something that they did not want to have to deal with. She could only imagine having to explain to Tommy why his wife fainted and she was sure that she would get an earful if that happened.

"They haven't said anything about one, yet, but they probably will sometime, you really never know with them. None of our schedules are exactly compatible with each others, as most of them work a nine to five job or worse depending on what they are having to do at work that week. I just don't know how they do it. After all of the years that I have either taught gymnastics or school, I've figured out that I like these hours much better than those," Kim said.

As her friends opened the door and sneaked into the back of the room, letting all of her, teacher friends talk to her before they showed themselves. They really wanted to surprise her this time and they hoped they would be able to do it without her fainting, like she had in the past. They had all been trying to find a time to do this, but it just seemed that this Friday was the best day for all of them.

"Do we know if it is going to be a boy or a girl?" Mallory Wiggins asked, as she sat down next to her friend and fellow kindergarten teacher.

She was several inches taller than the other two teachers were and she had white blonde hair, but still maintained a sense of likeability despite her model type looks. When she had found out that her across the hall friend was pregnant, she was rather surprised about it, but she was happy since Kim was. She had wanted a baby for so long and Mallory was just glad that she was finally going to have one. To be losing the only fellow kindergarten teacher that she got along with was a pain, but she knew Kim would be back before the end of the school year and that would keep things from going completely crazy all around her.

"No, Tommy and I don't know what the baby is going to be, but his parent's do and my parent's do. So they have been strongly suggesting some things for the baby's room, but we've settled on something that will work for either a boy or a girl. It's kinda nice for it to be a surprise. This is actually one surprise that we can both deal with," Kim said, as she thought about the pale green paint that Tommy would be using, to match the little sheets that came with the crib.

He had never been one for that type of thing, but he knew that it made her happy and he was more than willing to settle for something like that than for something that went strictly boy of strictly girl. He wanted to do the baby's room once, that was all, and he knew that Kim understood how he felt about that. It was going to be enough work for him, helping her put things where she wanted them, but he was happy to do it, so that she would be happy with the room. All he wanted to do was plop down a crib in there and that would have satisfied him, but it didn't satisfy her, at all and he knew that. He also didn't want to hear any complaining from her about it, if it did not turn out to meet her specifications and he was sure he would have heard that if they had done it his way.

"Are your parents coming into town for the baby's birth?" Mallory asked, as the last she had heard was that they were not exactly sure when or if they could come in at all. Tommy's parents lived in Angel Grove, so it was not a question of if they would be there, it was just how soon. Her parents, on the other hand, lived out of state and they knew that they would be lucky to get them into Reefside before they left the hospital with the baby.

"No, neither one is going to be able to make it in time for the birth, but they are going to come in a few weeks after the baby is supposed to be born. They were both able to find some time in their schedules to come in then, so it'll work itself out someway," Kim said, as her stomach grumbled and she looked down at her belly, wondering how she could be hungry again. She had just eaten a snack two hours ago and that usually held her over until supper, but it was not doing that today, but she did have to admit that over the last week or so that snack had lasted less time for her. "Well, I guess that I need to eat, since it's obvious that I'm hungry."

"Before you eat, why don't you make sure that everyone is here that you want to be here," Janice said, as her fellow rangers stood up at the back of the room, insuring that Kim would see them when she looked around and they could only hope that it would not overwhelm her too much.

"Yeah, everyone is, even Tri…" Kim said, as she stopped mid word, trying to make her mind understand why her friends were here without her knowing about it. As she stared at them, they moved towards her and she gave each of them a hug before any of them said anything to her, as she was still rather shocked. They were just praying that the shock was not too much for her this time.

"Surprise," Hayley said with a smile, as the others smiled and Kim had to hold herself on the ground as she wanted to jump up and down because she was so happy to see her friends, but she thought better of it, as her back would soon start complaining and Tommy would not like to hear about it tonight. He had probably had a day from hell with the way that he sounded on the phone this afternoon.

Sure, she saw Hayley and Ally around town and at the dojo every once in awhile, but ever since Mesogogg had taken a break; she was not able to see them as much either. It just was not wise for her to walk around Reefside without someone being with her, as she could not very well protect herself without risking harm to the baby and when Tommy and she went somewhere, most people just left them alone, no matter how well they knew them.

Tommy just always seemed to emit this feeling that they needed to be left alone and it did help with the teenagers, as they finally seemed to be getting the point that neither one was available anymore, especially with her being pregnant. For the first time since he had taught at Reefside, he had not received one anonymous gift, which was a miracle in itself.

"How did you know?" Kim asked, as her teacher buddies all held secretive smiles on their faces and she figured it out after a few seconds of looking at them. "Ya'll did this?"

"We knew that it would be hard for you to find time to go to Angel Grove, so we just asked them if they would come to ours," Janice said and Kim gave her a hug, before her stomach grumbled again and she looked down at it with a reproachful glare. "It looks like baby is hungry."

"Yeah, it does," Kim said, as she looked over at the table of food and then back at her friends, wondering if she should let them go first. "Do you want to eat first?"

"Kim, eat. We know that you are hungry," Kat said, as she put her arm around the pink ranger and guided her over to the table of food. She had wanted to talk to Kim about some things for a very long time and she could only hope that her friends would let her do that now. "Look, I just wanted to tell you that if you ever need someone to come take care of the baby, I'll come anytime. I have the most flexible schedule and considering some things that could go on, I'm willing to help if you need it and I don't hold anything against you. I know that I have said it before, but I really want you to understand that now. It's going to be rough on all of us when things start happening and we need to all be on the same side."

"Thanks, Kat, trust me I'll call you and I'm sorry about what I did all those years ago. So, how are you and Adam, or should I even ask about that one?" Kim asked, as she knew that Adam had been trying to figure out just when he was going to propose and Kim figured it would be after they defeated Mesogogg, but she might have been wrong.

He might have felt as if he needed to do that earlier, rather than later. She sure knew that Mesogogg's presence had been one of the deciding factors in Jason proposing to Trini earlier than he expected. She just didn't know if Adam was prepared to throw all of that together and then have something happen, which was very likely.

"We're alright, these last few months have been hard, with not knowing what is ahead, but I think that we'll be able to make it through, somehow," Kat said, as she knew that Kim had figured out what she was talking about. They had been trying to figure out who would take her and Tommy's places on the other team, but nothing had happened when Kat tried to get shards from the box a few months ago. They could only hope that they would appear when she tried it again, but they had begun a small search for people who might be able to do the job, but had come up rather empty handed in it as well. "Nothing new though, right?"

"Nope, nothing new," Kim said filling her plate and she couldn't help but feel sorry for her fellow ranger. Katherine wanted to help them so much, but the powers were not responding to her, but maybe they would when they finally had to battle Mesogogg again and if they didn't they were just up the creek without a paddle. They knew that they needed every ranger that they could get and if she was not able to get any powers, then where were they to turn to next? "We would have told you if we found something. It's the least we could do."

"That's nice to know," Kat said with a smile, as they sat down in chairs next to each other.

The other former rangers and ranger colleagues soon joined the two of them and they found it quite hard to not bring up the subject with other people around. They had that one thing on all of their minds now, since Mesogogg had been too quiet for their liking, although it was giving them time for Kim to have a healthy baby without worrying about him attacking her everyday.

"Okay, so we aren't just going to sit around and fill our faces all day. We've got some presents for you and then we also have a few things that Tommy might need to make it through all of this alive," Janice said, as she passed Kim the first gift and she carefully ripped through the paper, to reveal a bathtub for baby's, which was something that had been on her wish list since the beginning. The rest of the presents that she opened contained baby clothes, booties, bibs, bottles, pacifiers, blankets, and almost any other thing that could be used for a baby, including plenty of diapers. Then they got to the funny presents that were meant for Tommy's use and Kim's humor.

"I got Tommy an ice pack, for when you break and bruise his poor hand," Mallory said, as she passed it over to Kim and she couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Tommy actually having to use it. She knew that it could be a possibility, but she didn't really want anyone else to know about it. Her friends would think that, but only some of her friends would know that it was possible.

"I'm not that strong," Kim said, as some of the other teachers looked at her questioningly and her ranger friends just laughed at her trying to make them believe that one. If she was not that strong, then she would have been dead because of some of the things that she had been through and they all knew that, not that they really wanted to admit it.

"That was what my husband thought when I had our first child. Trust me, after I went through labor, he didn't think that anymore," Janice said, as she remembered her husband having to find some sort of padding to keep her from crushing his hand. They still found that funny to this day, although it did take him a little longer to laugh about it than her. "I got Tommy a roll of duct tape, so if he can not remember to shut up when you ask him, you can remind him."

"I'm glad he's not here, he might get scared after hearing what ya'll have to say," Kim said, taking the duct tape and laughing about it as well. If she had to do that, then he would possibly consider knocking her out later, but she doubted that he would remember it after he saw the baby. They all knew how his memory was and it seemed that it was going to be like that again with some things.

"And we got Tommy a pink teddy bear," Trini said, as she pointed to all of Kim's ranger friends and she knew Kim would understand the other meaning behind the bear. Kim had a little white teddy bear that Tommy had given her years ago and they thought giving him a pink teddy bear would make sense and it would just be hilarious to see him toting the thing up the stairs. "So for when you ask him not to touch you, he'll have some thing that he can hold."

"He'd kill me if I told him that I didn't want him to touch me," Kim said, as they smiled at how true that statement might be, although not many people understood why it was a pink teddy bear, instead of just a regular brown one. The ones that did, however, knew that Tommy would get a kick out of seeing a giant pink teddy bear. "That teddy bear is huge!"

"Well, we thought he could use something like this," Aisha said, as she passed it to Kim and they could no longer see her face, as she sat it down in her lap and smiled at it.

"Thanks for all the gifts," Kim said, as she looked around at the gifts that had recollected themselves at her feet after being passed through the people. She had no idea how she would fit all of these into her car, but if she knew her friends well enough, at least one of them had their car here and they would be willing to take some of them as well.

"You're welcome," Janice said, giving her a hug as she felt the baby kick against Kim's stomach and Kim winced at the strength she felt from the baby. Tommy and she had talked about what her powers might have done to the baby, but everything seemed normal when they went to the doctor, so there was no need to ask Tanya about it. If questions had been raised, then they would have explained it to her, but there was no need right now. They wouldn't have to now unless something bad came up and they prayed every night that wouldn't happen. "Now, you just go home and take care of yourself for the next month, alright? We have everything here to make sure that the substitute can do this and if we need anything else, we'll call you. I expect to see you back here in about two and a half months, you understand? Not any sooner."

"Yes ma'am," Kim said with a smile, as she looked down at the gifts on the floor and proceeded to squat and pick some of them up. She could only pick up a handful and she knew that it would take her forever to get all of the gifts to her car this way. "Ya'll don't mind helping, do you?"

"No, we don't," Ally said, picking up some gifts, as the others did the same thing. They walked with her out to her car and began stowing them away in the back seat and the trunk, which were soon filled and then they moved on to filling Trini's car as well.

"I have to get my bag and a few books from my room before I can head home, I just have to make sure that I have something to work on. Ya'll can go ahead and go to my house and I'll just meet you there in a little while," Kim said, as they looked at her, trying to figure out if it was wise to argue with her or just let her do what she wanted. They knew that Tommy would have wanted them to stay, but it was not Tommy's choice right now and they were sure that she would be fine at the school

"Alright, but don't take too long. Tommy will be waiting for you and you know what that means for his nerves," Trini said, as she gave Kim a hug and then turned to the others, as they piled into the two vehicles that they had brought and drove away towards Kim and Tommy's house.

"Hello, Kimberly," Richard said, as Kim entered her classroom and she slowly turned around from the door that she had just closed, praying that she did not recognize that voice, but she knew who it was before she even turned around. It had been a long time since she had let any thoughts of him cross her mind, but every bad thing that he had ever done to her was now screaming through her mind, as she tried to remain as calm as she could. She did not want to overstress herself now, not after being so careful lately. Why did he have to choose now to come back to talk to her about something insignificant? "My, haven't you grown. I knew that I should have been keeping a better watch on you, but Mesogogg insisted we stay close to him this time. He didn't want us to blow his plans."

"What do you want?" Kim asked, as she did not dare to walk any further into her room, knowing that if she had to call for help, her best bet would be that some of the teachers could hear her. She couldn't run and she couldn't fight, but she could still yell for help and try to contact Tommy with her communicator, if she had to do that.

"Just to warn you of something. Mesogogg will soon be ready to fight all of you again and that baby of yours might not fair so well," Richard said and then teleported out of them room, leaving Kim confused.

Why had he come to warn her, at all? She then walked around her desk, picking up everything, she needed, and then she quickly exited her room and headed for her car, knowing that the sooner she got home, the sooner she would feel safe.

AN: That's all for this chapter! I hope that you have enjoyed it and feel free to review. To those that do not wish to review, thanks for reading! I appreciate knowing that you have stayed with this series all the way through.


	4. Nursery Rhymes

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, and Mallory Wiggins.

_Thanks to those that read the last chapter and I hope that you really enjoyed it._

Now, on with the Story!

_Seeing the Nursery  
__Tommy's POV _

When I got off work this afternoon, I first went to the dojo for a two hour class with my advanced students and then I headed home, knowing that I had a lot of work to do there. I also knew that I had better do the work if I was going to be able to talk to my wife this afternoon. I promised Kim that I would start working on the nursery this week and now it's Friday and I haven't worked on it at all. I am sure she is not too happy about that, especially after how she acted this morning when I told her I would work on it this afternoon. I hadn't meant for this week to pass by and me not get any work done on it, but it did, although I am thankful that I had some back up coming in to help me.

You see Kim's teacher friends decided they wanted to give her a baby shower and since her friends from the ranger world hadn't been able to figure out when they could do it, they just invited them up as well and they gladly accepted the invitation.

When they did that, it gave me some people that could help out with painting the nursery and moving the crib in, without too much of a hassle being caused by it. We did get a little bassinet to keep in our room until the baby is old enough to be in the crib and that needs to be assembled as well. The thing was, I had no clue how long the shower would last and all of us were hoping to get the room done and have supper ready for the women by the time they got home, as they are sure to be tired and possibly hungry.

"Tommy, how have you been holding up lately?" Jason asked, as he entered the nursery with a can of paint in each hand.

He had went ahead and dug it out of the command center closet, as Tommy had instructed him that it was down there somewhere. It had taken him about twenty minutes to find it, but it seemed that most things that were not necessary for the command center's function had been pushed to the back of the small closet, which meant he had had to clear most of it out to get the paint and then he had to put it back in the closet.

He knew it was not in the order that it had been left in, but he hoped that Alpha would be able to find everything just the same, as he did not want to hear about it from Tommy later. He didn't understand why it was down there, but he didn't really have the strength to deal with Tommy's explanation for his logic right now.

"I'm doing fine, I didn't really expect to be the one that you'd be asking that question though. She wakes me up some nights because she can't find a comfortable position to sleep in, but usually she'll settle down a few minutes after that and go to sleep propped on top of me. But that really doesn't bother me that much, as long as she is able to sleep. I really don't care what position she puts me in to sleep, as long as she doesn't ask me to sleep on the floor. I don't know if I would be able to do that. I can't sleep when she's not there anymore," Tommy said, as he looked around the room that they had emptied in order for it to become the baby's nursery.

The room was only two rooms down the hallway from their bedroom and they both knew they would be able to hear the baby cry from that distance and they would also be able to hear if Mesogogg tried to do something sneaky, which was to be expected. He had just been too quiet for their liking, but they would be able to take it. He was one of the weirdest creatures that they had ever encountered and his logic did not follow most villains. Many would have gone on without any forces once they found out that one of the rangers would not be able to fight, but he was not one of those villains.

"So, what exactly do you need us to do?" Rocky asked, as he saw the box that contained the crib lying on the floor and the box containing the bassinet doing the same only a few feet away. He hoped that they would not be asked to put those together, but that was the feeling he was getting about the whole situation.

"Well, if you don't mind putting those together while Jason and me paint, then we'll be able to get most of it done before Kim and everyone else gets here," Tommy said, as he dipped the roller in the paint and prepared to put it on the wall.

"Okay," Billy said, as he dragged the crib out into the hall and Rocky dragged the bassinet into the hall. They were sure that between the four of them they could manage to put the things together, even if they did have to read the directions in order to do so. They didn't want the thing to collapse while the baby was in it, so they were actually going to try to follow the directions tonight, unless that just got too confusing, then they would let Billy take over the whole process. "So, who else is thinking about getting engaged sometime soon?"

"I am," Adam said, as a Tommy and Jason paused in their painting long enough to give each other a bewildered glance before they returned to the job at hand. They weren't exactly shocked that Adam was thinking about it, it was just that he had never been one to talk about things like that to them. It was always Rocky or Zack, as Adam and Billy generally kept those types of thoughts to themselves, although they had become more vocal about it lately. It seemed that they wanted some advice, although they didn't have much advice that they could give them. Each one of the women that they loved were different and none of them knew what would be best for them. "It's just hard to know when would be best to ask her about it, I've already got a ring, but I just don't know. She's been pretty upset about the fact that it seems that she won't be going out there with us when Mesogogg shows back up. I don't want her to think that I am asking her to marry me because I feel sorry for her, because that's the furthest from the truth. I've never pitied her in anything that has happened to her, even with her rather shitty luck in most of her relationships when I first met her, no offense Tommy. She's a tough girl and I'm just happy that I know her."

"Look, from experience, let me tell you that she'll probably just be happy that you can get the words out of your mouth without becoming a blubbering idiot," Jason said, as Tommy laughed at that. He was fairly sure that Jason had gotten his speech down perfectly before he asked Trini and then it all flew out the window, just like it did with him. "What's so funny? You think I was a blubbering idiot or something?"

"Nothing, it's just that I sure as hell know that I had my speech planned up until I started to ask her and then my mind went blank. I was just lucky that I got the words out before she thought that I needed to be taken to the hospital. Adam, you can't worry about something like, you just have to say whatever you feel, even if it makes you feel like you're an idiot," Tommy said, as Adam looked into the room at the two of them and wondered if the paint fumes where already getting to their brains.

The two of them rarely opened up like that to anyone and if they did it was their wives, but things had changed over the last few months. They had to depend on each other so much more now and that led all of them to saying more than they usually did about everything that was goingon.

"Adam, don't feel so bad, I think most of us sitting out here are in the same boat that you are in. The two of them managed to get their act together sooner and most of us are just struggling to figure out if we are really this serious about who we are falling for," Zack said, as he looked at the pieces of the crib that were laid out in front of him and could only pray that Billy understood exactly how to do this, as he had no clue about it. The directions made no sense to him at all. "Man, I know that Aisha means the world to me, but it's hard to think about the lifetime commitment and everything, especially knowing what is just around the corner. I don't want to get either of our hopes up and something happen to one of us when Mesogogg comes around. She wants to take a break for a little while, but I don't know how well I can handle that."

"She wants to do what?" Tommy asked, as this was a new development for him to hear about and he was sure that most of the others knew about it.

"Take a break. She is frustrated with me right now and I really don't have much of a choice but to let her. I love her, but with everything that is going on I'm afraid that the stress will get to us if we stay together right now," Zack said as Tommy merely looked at his paint roller, hoping it would answer his questions before he began painting again. It didn't help him at all and Jason seemed to be searching the ceiling for his answers.

"I'm worried about that too," Billy said, taking the directions out of Zack's hands and beginning to assemble the crib with little effort on his part. Rocky and Adam were looking at their directions as if they were in some foreign language and they slowly began putting together the bassinet, knowing that they would let Billy look over it before they placed it in Kim and Tommy's bedroom. They doubted that they would be able to get half of it together correctly, but Billy would take care of any of their careless mistakes, without making them feel like absolute idiots for not being able to understand the directions. "I just don't want something to happen and for Hayley to not know how I feel about her."

"They know how you feel about them," Jason said, reloading his roller and going to tackle the second wall. He had often doubted that Trini knew, but deep down they had both known how they felt about each other. They just had not been able to admit it to each other. "I didn't think that Trini did, but after awhile it becomes the things that you do and not what you say that are important to them."

"Well, I'm glad that you have it figured out, because I know that I don't. Not now any ways," Tommy said, looking at the partially painted room, with a little bit of satisfaction. If they were able to keep up this pace, they would have it finished by the time she got home and she would not have to do a thing, except tell him where she wanted the furniture. That was what he had been hoping for the whole time, as she had been more exhausted as the days went by and he just wanted her to be able to rest easily without worrying about things that still had to be done for the baby. They had enough on their plate right now and he didn't know how much more stress either of them could take. "There's some days that it is enough to give her a kiss and a hug, but there are some days that she needs the words that go along with those actions and God help you if you don't pick up on it in time."

"Kim is also eight months pregnant Tommy and having mood swings from hell," Rocky said, as he remembered the mood Kim had been in when she came by the dojo earlier that week. He had never seen her like that before and he was sure that he did not want to see her like that again. She had just gone off on him for some small thing and then broken down, but Tommy had handled it much better than he would have if he was her husband. He just took her home and he probably consoled her the rest of the night, because of how she felt about going off on him. "Man, I don't know what got into her Monday, but I don't think I can take another one of those moods. I don't know how you do it, Tommy."

"I love her, that's how I do it. She had a bad day at work though, Rocky. The principal came down on her because she was not out to pick up her kids in time from P.E., but the baby is sitting on top of her bladder now, so you can imagine what that is doing to her as well. After that happened, she had a parent call saying that her child had been beat up in class and that she had done nothing about it, although Kim promises that kid is just clumsy and I believe her. By the time that she got to the dojo, she was a walking time bomb and she's sorry that you were the one to set her off. She would have rather it been me, it wouldn't have hurt me as bad. I've had to deal with it a lot lately," Tommy said, as they all seemed rather surprised that Tommy had put up with Kim being treated like that without getting really pissed off about it. He usually didn't like it when people used harsh tones with her, but he seemed to have more coming after that. "And I didn't help things that much. When she told me about it later, I got mad and she became upset, so you can guess what I did the rest of the night."

"You know, I'm kinda glad that I just work at the dojo. There's not a lot of drama thare," Rocky said, as the others looked over at him with envy shining in their eyes. They all had to deal with adults on a daily basis and it was by no means the most enjoyable thing in the world. "Have the doctors told you anything new?"

"One thing, but they only told me this time and then I was given the responsibility to tell Kim, which was not fair to me at all. They're afraid that the baby might be a little bit too big for her to deliver on her own, but we're both hoping that they're wrong about that," Tommy said, as Billy and Zack carried in the crib and then placed the mattress in it. They had almost finished painting the walls, but Tommy didn't want to leave this completely to them and go fix the food, knowing that Kim had, had a certain idea in her mind. He would not be able to do all of it by himself, but he was going to get as much done as he could.

"Is that where you want the crib?" Billy asked, as he and Zack were willing to move it again if it was not where Tommy wanted it to be placed.

"It'll work for now. Kim will probably just be happy that the room is painted and that the crib is put together. I can move it once the paint dries to where she wants it. How is the other one coming along?" Tommy asked, as Adam glared at him through a crack in between the door and its hinges.

"You don't ask, we don't tell," Rocky said, as they had just managed to get the bottom of it together. Now that Billy was done with the other one, they could only hope that he would be willing to help them as well.

"It can't be that bad," Tommy said, as he placed the roller in the tray and then headed towards the kitchen to rinse them out before Kim got home.

"Yeah it can be," Billy said, as he looked at their work and then quickly scooted them out of the way. He managed to get the bassinet put together in under thirty minutes and by the time that he was done with that, they could smell supper cooking downstairs.

"No pizza?" Rocky asked, as he looked in the oven and saw that there was chicken in it, which was not exactly what he had been hoping for after all of the work that he had done this afternoon.

"No, Kim got sick off of it a few times and now she just won't eat it at all," Tommy said, as they looked at him with a question in their eyes, as they were quite sure that she didn't fix pizza that often. She had eaten it in high school, but it had never been her favorite thing in the world to eat, they all knew that. "I brought home pizza a couple of nights after we first found out and it just didn't set well with her and her sensitive stomach."

"Oh," Rocky said and then he went to get a glass out of the cabinet and fix himself a drink. "I guess I wouldn't want to eat it either if that happened to me."

"Hey guys," Trini said walking in laden down with baby things and she quickly had Jason walk over and take them out of her arms. He was sure that she was exhausted from being around a bunch of women talking about baby stuff.

"Where's Kim?" Tommy asked, wiping his hands off and taking the things out of Ally's arms, as she was the next one to come through the door.

"She had to get some stuff from her room before she came out here and she told us to go on. We're pretty sure that she would be fine, since there were some teachers up there cleaning up," Trini said, as she followed them up the stairs and into the nursery. She let out a soft gasp at the work that the guys had been able to accomplish this afternoon and then looked back at Jason, who smiled at her reaction. "She is going to be so happy when she sees this."

"I'm glad you think so," Tommy said looking around as he placed the presents on the floor and he couldn't help but notice some things that seemed out of place to have come from a baby shower. "What's with the duct tape and ice pack?"

"We'll let Kim tell you that one. She'll probably be able to make it sound as funny as it really was," Trini said, as they heard the door open and shut downstairs and then they heard Kim say something.

"I'm glad that she's home. Come on back downstairs, we'll eat supper and then I can bring her up here to see this. She's not going to want to walk up and down the stairs more than she has to," Tommy said, as he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. When he walked downstairs, Kim was placing a pink teddy bear on the floor in the living room, as she sat down on one of the couches, content to not move anywhere for a long time.

"You want us to fix you some food?" Rocky asked, as he sat down next to Kim and she looked up at him, trying to not let on that anything out of the ordinary had happened, although she didn't really focus her mind on him being out of place. It just seemed like he was supposed to be there for a few seconds at least.

"When did you get here? I just thought that the girls were here," Kim said, as she noticed Jason walking down the stairs with Tommy and Trini.

He was smiling as he saw how much bigger she had gotten over the past few weeks and he knew that they were all grateful that she really was fine, although she did seem a bit tired, but Tommy had warned him about that when he asked him to come. It just seemed that she was a little bit drained from having the baby keep her awake a little bit more than she would like, at least that was what theywrote it off as.

"I invited them to come too, I hope you don't mind," Tommy said, leaning down to give her a kiss on the lips and then standing up to look down at her and saw something that clouded her eyes, although he had no idea of what it could be. She hadn't had anything going on today that was even bordering on possibly upsetting her. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, it was alright, except," Kim said cutting herself off, as all of her friends had stopped what they were doing and listened for whatever she had to say. Rocky had even managed to stop preparing her a plate at the tone that he caught in her voice.

"Except what?" Tommy asked, as she sighed and looked up at him, knowing that she didn't want to have to talk about it right now.

"Richard showed up," Kim said, as Tommy clenched and unclenched his fist, but before he was able to say anything, she blurted out the next part. She did not want him to get mad, because she didn't have the energy to talk him down out of his madness tonight. She barely had the energy to sit down and talk to him right now. "But he didn't do anything Tommy. He came to warn me about the fact that Mesogogg is going to be coming back soon and that he might be after the baby. It was just weird, he didn't try to do anything and he left right after he said that. It was like he was trying to do something good, instead of something bad. Something has changed with him Tommy, something is going on that he doesn't like. I could tell it. I used to know him, remember?"

"You're alright, though, right? Nothing's wrong with you?" Tommy asked as she nodded her head yes and he then looked up to see that Jason was looking furious, which was not a big surprise.

He, however, would hold in his emotions just like Tommy was or the two of them would have to deal with more than the punching bag downstairs. Kim carefully pushed herself to the edge of the couch, thinking that she was going to have to get up to fix herself a plate of food, but Rocky then passed one to her.

"I thought you were joking about that," Kim said, as she gladly took the plate and leaned back onto the cushion of the sofa. She didn't like to admit that the being on her feet affected her, but it did and she knew that her friends had probably heard all of it from Tommy, although she didn't like that he made her seem like she was a cripple in some ways.

"Come on, I wouldn't joke with a pregnant woman when I was talking about her food. I'm not that stupid," Rocky said with a smile as Tommy went to go get his own plate and then sit down next to Kim on the couch.

"Rocky, I'm sorry about Monday. I didn't mean it and Tommy got me out of there before I could apologize for what I said," Kim said, giving him a smile and hoping that he understood. She had really just had a bad day.

"Hey, it's alright. You have the right to have a little bit shorter fuse than normal," Rocky said and he then went to go get his own plate, as their other friends filled the living room, knowing that Kim was not going to get off the couch until she went to go to bed upstairs.

"So, they tell me that you are the one to ask about the duct tape and the ice pack that are sitting upstairs," Tommy said sitting down next to Kim and carefully scooting as close to her as he could without her feeling cramped for her own space. She often felt that way now and he was not in any mood for her to push him away tonight. He needed to talk to her tonight about a few things.

"Oh," Kim said with a smile, as she was sure that the girls would get a good laugh out of it, but the boys were not very likely to like it. It was something that they had found comedic, but most of the guys would think that Tommy would definitely need most of it, as they knew how their friend was when she was in pain under normal conditions and this was not going to be normal conditions. "Well, my teacher friends thought it would be nice to give me some things that you would need to survive all of this. They gave me the ice, for you to use when I bruise up your hand. The duct tape to keep you quiet when you won't shut up and the pink teddy bear for when I won't let you touch me."

"You're kidding me, right?" Tommy asked, as Kim shook her head no and he laughed about it for a few seconds. He knew that it might be true that he would have to use those things, but he hated having it brought out in front of people that did not really know him that well. "So they forgot to give you a six pack of beer for me?"

"Tommy," Kim said rather harshly as they guys laughed at his suggestion, as they knew that he needed one of those after everything that had been going on. He was likely to be a nervous wreck by the day she delivered, but he would only tell them that.

"Hey, we hate to have to leave so soon, but I've got to teach a class tomorrow. I offered to sub for one of the teachers at the Youth Center and it's just my luck that he teaches a six a.m. class on Saturday," Jason said, as he finished eating his food and looked to see that the clock read eight. He knew that he had better get going or he would not be able to roll out of bed in the morning and he did not want to disappoint the class. He had been looking forward to this almost as much as they had.

"That's fine, Jase," Kim said, trying to stand up, but he walked over and bent down to give her a hug.

"Take care of yourself, Pinkie," Jason whispered in her ear as she smiled up at him. He always reminded her of that sort of stuff and she had thought it was funny for years, but it was not that funny anymore. She knew just how much she had to do that. "I have someone here that will tell me if you don't do that."

"I'll try to Jason. I'll really try," Kim said with a smile and then Trini gave her a hug before she followed Jason outside.

"So, how much work do you lack on getting the Dino rangers power boosters that they are going to need?" Aisha asked, looking towards Hayley and Billy.

"They have them, but we're not sure how to activate them without it overwhelming them and the only people that we would be willing to test it on are not in any condition to have it tested on them," Hayley said, glancing over at Kim and Tommy, knowing the after affects that it could have on either one of them, although Kim was just out of the question right now. Tommy, however, was a consideration if it came down to it, but they didn't want him to do that, as it would put him in jeopardy of being very tired himself.

"So, in other words, we're not going to test them until I have the baby, unless we absolutely have to do that," Kim said, leaning her head on Tommy's shoulder and closing her eyes.

She had not realized how tired she was until she had finished eating, but now that she had figured it out, she was just as happy to go to sleep like that. She didn't care what her friends thought; she had learned to listen to her body over the last few months or she would regret it later on.

"Yeah, I guess that is the best way to say it," Billy said, as he brought up another improvement they were trying to make before the battles started again. "As for our Zords, I've been able to bring up the weapons that they contain and from what I can see, we have enough fire power to take care of most things that could cross our path. I'm just worried that they won't activate because they haven't been used in so long. If they don't, I can not imagine what might happen to us."

"Don't worry about the Zords. Our rangers can take care of the problem if it becomes that size, because I doubt that we will be able to get away from the groundwork long enough to put together our Megazord. They're going to try to keep us busy, you know that," Tommy said. He knew that Mesogogg was definitely going to try to keep them preoccupied on the ground, which was probably not a wise thing for whatever they were going up against. It would have been better for them to lure the older rangers skyward, but he would learn that all too late.

"What are the two of you going to do?" Rocky asked, as Tommy looked down at Kim to see that she had fallen asleep against his shoulder. They had talked about it enough for him to know the answer to that question, but he really did not want to upset her by talking about it again, although her being asleep made it easier for him.

"Well, we decided that if no one else is receptive to the powers we used to defeat Nicarni-Aso, that we'll give up our dino powers and take those. We should be able to find two more people that are receptive to the gems," Tommy said, as they all thought about it for a few seconds.

"But there is no guarantee that it will be someone who has been out of the game for awhile is there?" Kat asked, as Tommy looked over at her and tried to figure out the nicest way to say what needed to be said. He couldn't lie to her and guarantee that she would be able to be a ranger again, but he couldn't tell her that there was no way that she would get the post.

"No, there's not, but we'll try Kat. I just can't guarantee anything. The two of us don't even know if our old powers will take us back after having the dino powers and if we have to have residual powers drained, then I'm not sure if the two of us will take them back anyway. That hurt too much," Tommy said, as Zack nodded that he understood how he was feeling. The two of them could not endure having powers drained out of them again and they did not blame them at all for that one. It left them drained and weary and that was something that none of them wanted to risk at the moment. They needed to be alert at all times.

"You shouldn't have to worry about that Tommy," Billy said, as he had been able to deduce that from his research that Kim and Tommy's newest power would not have the same residing effects that all of their old powers had, had within them. "I think that the two of you should be fine this time, but I hate to break this up, but I gotta get back to Angel Grove. I have to meet with some engineers tomorrow, they're trying to decide if they are going to allow me into that company."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Hayley asked, as Billy cringed at the tone that Hayley had in her voice. He had been trying to keep it a secret until everything was set in stone, but he had managed to tell her when she was not in the best mood to hear about it.

"Because nothing is for sure about it and I didn't want you to get your hopes up about something when it might not work out," Billy said, as Tommy and the others tried to fade away into the back ground, as they did not want to see the two of them fight. They were sure that it would not be pleasant.

"Why would I get my hopes up? It's just a new job, Billy. I thought that we agreed we were going to tell each other about things like that," Hayley said, as Billy silently put his hand over his face and then looked over at her.

"Because they have a branch in Reefside and that's the one that I'm trying to get on with. They might hire me, but they could decide that they want me to stay in Angel Grove, that's why I didn't tell you anything about it," Billy said, as a few of the rangers left the room all together, which left only Kim and Tommy, because of the fact that she was comfortably asleep.

"Oh," Hayley said quietly as she looked around to see that most of their friends had left, for the exception of Kim and Tommy, as they had expected the two of them to get into a yelling match with each other. "We scared that others off, didn't we?"

"Yeah and I would have left it wasn't for her being asleep," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him and then looked around before she saw that the only people left were Billy and Hayley.

"Where'd everybody go?" Kim asked, as Aisha peeked around the corner of the wall that separated that kitchen from the living room.

"They were afraid that we would get into a yelling match," Hayley said, as Kim looked over at her utterly confused as to why that might happen and Tommy smiled down at her before she yawned. Tommy knew it was probably best to go ahead and get her upstairs, so she could get some sleep and hopefully be comfortable tonight.

"Why would that happen?" Kim asked, as Billy tried not to laugh at the question, but he failed to keep her from noticing it. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing Kim," Billy said, as he stood up so he could go ahead and head back towards Angel Grove. He couldn't stay here much longer or he would be in the same condition as Jason seemed to be fearing to be in the next day. "Look, I'll be back up here on Wednesday to work on that power booster some more. What time should I get here?"

"You can come as early as you want. I don't have to work anymore, Billy," Kim said, as Tommy looked over at her and then shook his head above her range of sight. He knew that if he was not at home then she was likely to be down there helping Billy work, when what she needed to do was lay back and rest.

"So, I need to be here about four?" Billy asked, as Tommy nodded his head yes and Kim glared up at him before looking over at Billy who was smiling. "Hey, it's not that you can't help, Kim. We just don't want you to push yourself and you don't know your limits, missy."

"Billy," Kim said warningly, as he reached down to give her a hug and he carefully let her go before he said anything else to her.

"Look, I'm just saying what I know about you," Billy said, as she smiled and then he looked back at Hayley, who he knew did not want him to leave so soon. All of the time that they spent together was when they were working on things with the rangers and he couldn't deal with that much longer and neither could she. They wanted to be able to see each other everyday and it didn't matter to them that that was nearly impossible right now. Billy had been trying to find a job in Reefside for the past few months and if he could manage to do that, then he would finally be able to move on with his life. "You want me to drive you back to your place?"

"Sure," Hayley said with a smile as they turned to leave and all of the others decided that this was as good of time as any to leave, as they all had things that they had to do the next day.

"So are we going to stay here all night or are we going to go upstairs sometime?" Tommy asked, giving Kim a smile, before he stood up to take their plates into the kitchen. He had the feeling that she would rather stay put, because it was comfortable, but he knew that she would never be able to sleep down there all night.

"We'll go upstairs in a little bit, if you're able to haul me off of this couch," Kim said, as he held in a laugh at that one.

Her sense of humor had seemed to have gotten better in most respects, but there were some days that it was not wise for him to laugh about everything that she said. He had been yelled at for it on a few occasions and he didn't want to try his luck tonight.

"I think I can do that," Tommy said, extending a hand for her to grab and carefully pulling her up off of the couch and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, which she quickly sunk into. "There's something I want you to see."

"What have you done?" Kim asked, scared that he had taken it upon himself to do something crazy and something that she would not like to see at all. She was under enough stress knowing that Mesogogg was still out there and could come back at any time, she did not need any added stress from him.

"It's not anything bad, sweetie. Trust me that you'll like it," Tommy said, as he helped her up the stairs and he wondered if it was really smart for the two of them to be staying in their bedroom, which did happen to be upstairs instead of one of the guest rooms downstairs. It took her so long to walk up the stairs at the end of the day and if she went into labor during the night, there was no guarantee that she would be able to make it down them quickly or at all depending on how bad the contractions were.

"Why do there have to be so many stairs in this house?" Kim grumbled, as he stopped her in front of what was going to become the nursery. She could only pray that he had really done some work, if not she was going to beat him to a pulp with the little bit of energy that she had left from her day at school. "You better not be playing with me, Tommy."

"I'm not, I actually worked on it some this afternoon," Tommy said covering her eyes and opening the door before he turned on the lights and let her see it. He hoped that she would like what he had done so far, if not he wasn't sure if he would be able to take it. Her opinion mattered so much about this and he could only hope that he had done a good job. "Did I do alright?"

"You finished the painting and got the crib put together and it actually looks like you knew what you were doing," Kim said walking further into the room and touching the crib with one of her hands. She knew that in a few weeks there might be a baby lying in that crib and it overwhelmed her that she felt so happy about all of it. It had been such a long week and to come home to see the nursery was finished was a wonderful surprise from Tommy. It was actually one of the best surprises that he could have given her after dealing with a bunch of young children all day long. "It's beautiful, Tommy. Thank you so much."

"You're not saying that just because I finally worked on it, are you?" Tommy asked, walking up behind her and putting both of his arms around her and feeling her lean back against him without an ounce of her own weight being supported by herself.

He knew that tiredness had crept into her body, but she was fighting against it, as he was not sleepy, from what she could tell. She wanted to stay up with him, although he had learned it was best for the two of them if he got into bed with her and just laid there, even if he couldn't fall asleep for a couple of hours. She needed the rest and he did not want to have to deal with her when she was grumpy. It was worse than anything else he could imagine having to deal with from her while she was pregnant. He hated when she was in a bad mood and they both knew that.

"No, you did good, although I am sure that I will be asking you to move some stuff later," Kim said with a smile and then she yawned. She still had to make sure that he put the rocking chair in the nursery, but other than that, it seemed like most of it was alright by her standards.

"It looks like someone needs to get to bed," Tommy said, turning her around in his arms and carefully looking down at his exhausted wife. She couldn't hide that she was tired from him, although she had been able to pull that off with their friends. They didn't see her everyday the way that he did and they couldn't pick up on the signs as well as he could either. "I guess baby has already gone to sleep."

"Don't be so sure about that one, Tommy," Kim said as she felt the baby kick at one of her organs and she winced from the pain that it caused before he started walking her towards their bedroom, enjoying watching her waddle in front of him.

He loved the way that she had changed as the baby got bigger, as her body did not seem meant to accommodate a baby at all, but she was more beautiful to him than ever before. He didn't know what made him feel like this, but he knew that there was nothing that made him happier than seeing her with that belly and a smile on her face.

"Still kicking you?" Tommy asked as she reached into the top dresser draw to grab a nightgown to slip on before she got into bed.

"Of course, the baby never stops. It seems to want to fight as much as I do," Kim said, as she went into the bathroom, so she could change without feeling any prying eyes. She was not as comfortable changing in front of him, as stretch marks now littered her stomach, although she got the feeling he didn't really care. He wanted her to be close to him, no matter what and the way her body changed didn't bother him. She was his wife and that was all that mattered in his eyes.

"Hey, why do you always come in here to change now?" Tommy asked, with a sudden spurt of curiosity, as he walked up behind her and watched as she slipped on the nightgown that he had gotten her for Christmas.

She had outgrown most of her old ones and he could tell she felt crappy when she wore his old boxers and T-shirts to bed, not that he cared about her wearing them. It didn't really matter to him what she wore at all. It was just important to him that she be as comfortable as she could be while she was pregnant and if that meant he had to give up half of his wardrobe, then he was fine with it.

"I just feel more comfortable this way," Kim said, as she turned around to go back into their bedroom and try to settle down in bed before Tommy came in, in an attempt to get to sleep quickly. That idea never seemed to work, but it usually kept her out of dealing with emotional situations like this one. She couldn't deal with them as well as she had been able to a few months ago and she was sure that Tommy picked up on it.

"So you're not comfortable when I'm with you anymore? You don't want me to see you?" Tommy asked, trying to disguise the hurt in his voice, but he did not do a very good job at it, as he reached out and placed a hand on her belly trying to get her to look him in the eyes. He loved her and he hated to know that he might be making her uncomfortable in any way.

"It's not you. It's just that my body has changed so much and I don't feel comfortable letting anyone see me look so different," Kim said, grabbing his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze as he pulled her into a hug. He had gotten the feeling that those thoughts had been swirling around in her head much more often lately and he was willing to do anything to get them to stop for good.

"You're the same person to me, Beautiful. It doesn't matter that the baby has changed your body, you're still there, and this is one of the best things that you have ever done. Don't think badly of yourself, I'll love you no matter how much your body changes," Tommy said, hearing her sniffle against his chest, before he gently picked her up and took her to their bed, so she could get some much-needed rest.

AN: Thank you for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. Please review, so I can know what you're thinking about this story! Until next time, happy reading!


	5. Working for the Rangers

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, and Mallory Wiggins.

**Jojo Momo:** Thank you so much for the review and the roller coaster ride has only just begun!

**Cat:** Thanks for the review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!

**Vee Ronaldo:** Thank you so much for the review and I hope that you'll like this chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

_Boosting Their Powers_

_Billy's POV_

I am, once again, making my now weekly trip up to Reefside to work on further modifications for the Dino Rangers and their various forms of weaponry. Alpha and Hayley have been working at the project with all of the energy that they can muster, but there are times that they need some extra help and that is where I come into the picture. We all have come to terms with the fact that Tommy was able to attain a PhD in Paleontology, but he still admits that he is not as proficient at some parts of the lab work as some of us are. Honestly, I'm surprised that he made it through freshmen biology in college, but I'm glad he proved all of us wrong, on this one. If he hadn't we would be more behind than we are right now and I know it scares him because we don't know when Mesogogg will come back.

My job, as of late, has become a real pain for me to deal with, even on the best days. There are always opportunities for expansion, but there are rarely any chances for me to be able to land a job with the Reefside branch, which seems to fit into their plans. I asked my supervisor why they continued to deny my request to be sent here and his explanation reminds me of why I do not love working for huge corporations, in general. I've found a few good jobs in these corporations, but this is not one of them. The branch I am working at now, is the main branch and he told me he didn't want to lose a worker here and send him to Reefside, when he actually worked for him. I know that there are other people who did not request to be considered for that sight, but they got the job. Now, I have had to start looking at other options, which is not a pleasant idea at all, when we are at war with Mesogogg. I'm busy enough with ranger work, looking for a job is just a pain in the ass right now, to be quite frank.

"Hey, Billy," Kim said in an unusually perky tone, as she opened the door to let him in, wearing a pair of old pajama bottoms that he was fairly sure were Tommy's at one point, as they puddled around her feet.

If he had not known any better, he would have sworn that Kim was starting to get stir crazy, but Tommy had assured him that she was acting fairly normal. He had been surprised at that one, as he was sure that the gymnast and ranger in her was begging her to run around some, instead of staying still all the time. She, however, had been doing more of that since she found out that she was pregnant and he was sure that she had probably just gotten used to all of it, although that was fairly hard to believe. She had never been one to enjoy sitting still and he knew that she had not changed that much over the years, no matter what anyone might think.

"Hey, are they already downstairs?" Billy asked, as he hauled in a box full of equipment. He had not been sure what they would need out of the old command center, but he had brought anything that he thought would work well with all of the things that they were going to attempt to do. He would rather bring too many materials, than not bring enough to complete the project, because if he didn't then they would have to wait another week before they could complete the morphers, which was time that they didn't have to spare. He had made arrangements with his company to have one day off a week, as long as he let them know two days in advance and that had worked very well for him with all of the projects that he had been working on.

"Yes, except for Tommy. Principal Randall has him working on some committee at the school, not that he is very happy about that one," Kim said, as she waddled towards the trap door and opened it for Billy. She had promised Tommy that she would only do small tasks, if they asked her to work any. He did not want her exerting herself and she did not have the energy to argue with him about the amount of work that she should be allowed to do. She had settled to only do a minimum amount of housework, but Tommy was even trying to convince her to do less than that, which she was never going to agree to. Tanya had not told her that she couldn't do small chores and until she did, she was going to continue doing that.

"I don't imagine that he would be, considering everything else that is going on around here, besides Mesogogg," Billy said, as he and most of the other rangers knew that Tommy was worried about Mesogogg, but he doubted that Mesogogg would try anything after waiting so long. He would have tried it earlier, if he was going to and if he did now, only Tommy knew what he would do to the creature and that was scary if it happened.

"Billy, you brought the supplies. I'm surprised that you were able to find them at all," Alpha said, as he remembered leaving the Command Center in a mess, at least from what he was able to remember about the whole ordeal. He had tried to block most of it from his memory. He did not like being jerked away from the place the way that others decided he should be after Zordon died. He would have been perfectly happy to stay and keep up the condition of the Command Center, but some of the other people did not think it was wise to do so, he went to help the Space Rangers, who were already settled into who they asked for help. He spent more time doing small things there than anything else, which left him plenty of time to watch after all of the other rangers, like he had promised. He had managed to keep in touch with the Space Rangers while he was on Earth, although they finally understood exactly why he had to come back to Earth, which was a miracle in itself. They had been so determined that there was nothing, that when they saw the truth, they offered as much help as they could, although Tommy only took what they needed to get by.

"It did take a little bit of searching Alpha, but it was not as bad as I had thought it would be," Billy said, as he set the box down and opened it. Hayley had been searching for some other supplies in the storage closet and had not seen Billy come in, but she was glad to see him when she did. She had been stressed out over the last few days, trying to get all of the morphers ready for the rest of the modifications, but he would calm her down, somehow. She was starting to wonder how they were able to do this, but she trusted that Tommy, Billy, and the other rangers had a plan for all of this. "Hey."

"Hey, I'm glad you made it up here alright," Hayley whispered as Billy gave her a hug and then sighed as he let go of her.

It was a mental strain on him to continue to live in Angel Grove and long to be in Reefside every waking hour of the day. He had talked to some of the other rangers about it, but none of them had the problem that he did and the only ones that had, were Tommy and Kim. He didn't exactly want to take a page out of their dating how-to book or he might wind up breaking both of their hearts for some stupid reason. He just had to figure out a way to live in Reefside, no matter what it might cost him in other areas of his life. He was not happy anymore in Angel Grove and all of his friends knew it, so they were willing to help him in any way that they could.

"You didn't expect me to?" Billy asked giving her a concerned smile before he turned to unload the box of its materials. She hated this lull in activity, because of the fact that they never knew when that next attack would be and she never knew if it would be the battle that brought him out of retirement. She hated knowing that all of their lives were depending on when that one battle happened, but the sooner it did, the better it was, for all of them.

They had requested that the Dino rangers hand in their morphers, for one day, to allow them to construct the rest of the power boosters into the morphing mechanism. It did not matter that they already had an advanced defensive state built in, thanks to Tommy's careful planning and a brief moment of brilliance while designing the morphers. They did not know how quickly their powers would be depleted in a long, hard fought, battle against a full army of tryadrones. The older rangers did and they saw that this was most necessary in order to be able to defeat Mesogogg and anyone else he might decide to bring in to help him.

"It's not that. We just were picking up some odd things today," Hayley said, as they heard something clatter upstairs and then saw Tommy jog down the stairs and into the command center, looking to be irate.

"Bad day?" Kim asked, tentatively as he looked over at her and then shook his head yes. He did not want to elaborate on how 'bad' his day had been at school and he was not sure if Kim could handle the rough language and tone he would use when talking about it. It had been a day from hell by his standards and he had, had some days that he thought qualified like this before, but this one seemed worse. Randall had clawed him all day and there was nothing else that could have irritated him more. Then, he had been forced to sit through an hour long meeting with her, in which he had to bite his tongue the entire time in order to not say something that might cause her to fire him.

"Well, we're ready to get started Tommy, but do you need sometime to cool off before we do that?" Billy asked, as he knew that Tommy would have to be able to think clearly in order to be able to do this. It was much more intricate than they had expected, but they knew that it was possible for him to be able to do help them with this modification.

"Give me a few seconds and I'll be alright," Tommy said as he sat down next to Kim and laid his head on her stomach. He had never had a day turn out as badly as today did and he had to admit that he wanted to be comforted about what he had been forced to deal with. However, to receive comfort, he had to be willing to tell Kim about his day and he wanted to wait until everything was done before he did that. If he started now, he knew that he might not get done for a couple of hours and that was valuable time that he did not need to waste.

"You'll tell me later, right?" Kim asked, as he stood up and he turned around to give her a smile and a shake of the head yes. He would tell her, he just knew that he would have to be careful in the way in which he explained all of it to her. Even with him being careful, he was not sure that he would be able to avoid upsetting her, but he had to give it a try. He couldn't walk around this mad for a very long time or he would blow up at her, which was something he didn't want to do.

"Okay, now only go one step at a time," Tommy said, as he stood between Billy and Alpha, knowing that they would catch any of his mistakes well before it could hurt any of them.

"We can do that," Billy said, as he placed the first wire on the back of the red morpher and watched as it absorbed the cable, which was what they expected. There were a total of twenty cables that had to be placed into each of the morphers and once that was done, they would have established a boost of energy that could sustain them when the command center personnel could not feed anymore into them from their reserves. They continued this long and tedious process for over an hour, but the results from this added power would be seen in the battles and that was where it would make all the difference.

"Alright, check my work," Tommy said, as he had been working on only one morpher, while Billy and Hayley handled two apiece. Alpha had been busy monitoring the activities on Mesogogg's rock, as he had been able to finish the project faster than the rest of them. They had seen very little activity outside of his castle and they couldn't help but wonder how many tryadrones he would be able to store in his castle. There was no way that a full army could be staying above ground, but they did not know how much of the building was underground, although Alpha had tried to figure it out. From the scans that he had done, it seemed that Mesogogg did not have a great deal of storage under his castle, but he could have protected some of those rooms from scanning, although Tommy and Billy doubted that one.

"I don't see any obvious flaws and considering the fact that you did your wife's morpher, I don't expect that there will be any to find at all," Alpha said, as he looked over the morpher and then handed it over to Kimberly, who had walked up behind Tommy. She had gone upstairs to fix supper for all of them, knowing that they would enjoy anything after the mind numbing work that they had, had to do downstairs. She also couldn't stand sitting down there and watching them do that, so she knew that she had better go do something that Tommy wouldn't complain about.

"I hope there aren't any, even though that might not be my morpher for much longer," Kim said, as Tommy jumped at the sound of her voice and they all laughed at him. He had been known for having quick reflexes in the past, but they had never expected that he would be startled to hear Kim's voice, especially when they were married. "Supper is ready whenever you have a chance to come eat."

"Is that a suggestion that you are hungry?" Hayley asked with a smile as Kim nodded her head yes and then turned to walk back up the stairs, all the while complaining about the layout of the house.

"Doesn't like steps anymore, does she?" Billy asked, with a laugh, as Tommy placed his arm around Billy's shoulders and sighed. If steps were the only problem, he would be happy, but it was much more than that.

"Billy, she doesn't particularly like walking anymore. She hates steps now," Tommy said as the two of them emerged from the command center and he caught a death glare from Kim.

"I heard that," Kim muttered, as she served herself and then sat down in a chair around the kitchen table. Tommy then walked over to the small television to turn on the news and all of them could only pray that there would be nothing that pertained to Mesogogg on there. If there was, they might as well call up everyone and see what they could do in a few hours to get them ready for a battle. They were not going to allow him to get much of an edge, as they didn't have time to waste on waiting for him to be strong. They wanted to get at him while he was still fairly weak.

"It's the truth though, Kim," Tommy said, as he sat down next to her and carefully made sure that he handed her a glass of water. He hoped that she would see that he was joking about all of it, but there was always a chance that she wouldn't and he would be in deep trouble, as she did not forgive as easily now.

"I know, but I don't want you to remind me about it," Kim said with a smile, as Hayley and Billy exchanged a confused glance.

They were sure that Kim was going to chew his head off, but she didn't, for some odd reason. She just seemed to be tired today and they all knew that might mean that she was getting closer to having the baby, even if it was a little bit early. They knew that Tommy would just be grateful if his wife and their baby were healthy when they left the hospital, nothing else really mattered to him right now, even most of his ranger work had been pushed aside, although they did expect it.

"How are the others doing?" Hayley asked, as they had not heard much from them over the last few days. She knew that Rocky was having the hardest time of waiting all of this out. Ally had never been a ranger and she didn't know what was truly in their future. When Mesogogg showed back up, they had no choice but to go, although she hated that idea. She just hoped that none of the others were having things go as bad with their counterpart.

"Jason and Trini are doing alright. Jason has been working a lot of overtime lately, he's trying to have enough hours for when he has to take off that it won't affect his job stability. Trini doesn't like that too much, though. You can imagine why she wouldn't like it. Zack and Aisha, well, they're taking a little break right now, according to Adam. I think Aisha finally was fed up with Zack not being able to commit one way or the other. Thing is, he loves her. Adam and Kat are doing alright, Kat's just not too happy about the whole power thing, but she's gotten used to the idea of someone else taking them, when the time comes," Billy said, as Kim let her fork fall from her hands and clatter onto her plate.

"Zack and Aisha are taking a break?" Kim asked, as Billy nodded his head and Kim tried to think back to see how obvious that was supposed to be. She had really thought that they had gotten over the hard trials, but maybe Aisha had really gotten fed up this time. She had been patient for so long and it just seemed that she had finally had her patience run out. "Well, maybe he'll finally get the idea that he is going to have to get serious or let her go find someone else."

"But he loves her, that's what's hard about it. He wants to be with her," Billy said, as he could relate to the situation, but he could not deal with it the way that Zack was going to try to.

"Of course it is, but at least they are on friendly terms," Tommy said, as he caught Kim giving him a look before concentrating on eating her food. She knew what he was referring to and he only hoped that he had not stepped on her toes. If he had right now, he might be sleeping on the couch and she might not come down there tonight and snuggle up against him.

"Well, that's true. If they weren't then we might not have a pleasant time when we have to go back to fighting," Billy said, as Kim gave him a sharp look before he decided that he might want to drop the subject, for the sake of his own health. They had all feared that their fighting was going to suffer last time because of Kim and Tommy's estrangement, but they had managed to work things out. Kim was certain that Aisha and Zack could do that as well, especially knowing how both of them felt about each other. "How are Ally and Rocky?"

"They're alright, Rocky has been avoiding the subject of Mesogogg as much as he can, although I think that he is going to have to talk to her about it sometime soon," Tommy said, as Kim let out a barely audible ouch. "You alright?"

"Baby kicked," Kim said with a smile as they looked at the two of them. Tommy placed a hand on her belly and then continued to eat, knowing about Kim's theory of the baby being a ham for Daddy's affection, which did seem to be true. "So, you think that this power booster will be enough for them?"

"We have no reason to not think that. Don't worry, I made a promise and I intend to keep it," Tommy said, as he knew what was going through her mind. If there was a battle and she needed him, she didn't know if he would come get her, although he had promised her that multiple times.

"I know," Kim muttered as she looked over at the television, which was displaying a picture of the rangers with her, before she had gotten pregnant. She had no clue why they would be on the news, but she had seen weirder things on television lately. "What's that about?"

"Cassidy has been trying to figure out why the rangers have suddenly gone into hiding. She keeps asking odd questions to people at school and now it seems that she has come up with an explanation. I thought the fact that Mesogogg had stopped showing up would be enough for her," Tommy said, as Kim silently nodded her head. She had heard about what Cassidy had asked some of the students and she was sure that if she ever picked on the rangers, on the wrong day, Tommy might have to bail them out of alternative school or worse. They did not want her investigating their life and if she tried to, she might dig up some things that would get her in serious trouble with the rangers and the authorities, as Tommy had already caught her on their property once.

"She wants a hot story, Tommy and she's willing to do anything to get that. The problem with that fact is that she is getting threateningly close to the people that could tell her the truth," Hayley said, as she had seen Cassidy talking to the rangers on several occasions. She knew that there might be a day when their communicator went off in front of her, then all hell would break loose. Cassidy would want to release the story, but she would have to go through Tommy and Kim in order to do that and they would figure out some way to keep her quiet or more appropriately, they would make her be quiet.

"At least she hasn't started interviewing me," Tommy said, as he knew what he was likely to say to Cassidy if she choose the wrong moment to pounce on him. She had already asked him what he thought of the rangers, but she didn't ask him if he knew who they were, not that he would have any reason to tell her the truth and not that she could tell if he lied about it.

"I'd rather her interview you," Kim said, as Tommy looked at her. He couldn't understand why that was comforting to her, but he was not going to try to ask her to explain it, unless she decided to on her own. "You've had to lie about it for so long that it is second nature, all of us have."

"Being a liar is not something that I like to admit to," Tommy said, although they were all masters of the art. They had to be, in order to think up plausible excuses for being out of the country for roughly two years and then suddenly showing back up. It had happened to them before and he was sure that it might happen to them again, especially if this battle was long and drawn out.

"Supper was great," Billy said as he took his plate and set it down in the sink. He had learned that they appreciated the other rangers making themselves feel at home, because it had become their home away from home over the last few months, with all of the time they had spent up there.

"It was no problem, Billy," Kim said, as Hayley stood up and gave Billy a questioning look. She wondered if he was going to have to head back to Angel Grove or if he would be staying the night. If he was staying the night, she wanted to leave so they would be able to catch up some; if he wasn't she still wanted to have as much time with him as she could. "Have a good night."

"Don't worry," Billy said with a smile as Hayley and he walked towards the front door. Now Kim could really ask Tommy about what had happened, even if he didn't want to admit to it.

"Okay, Tommy, they're gone and you have no excuses left about this. What happened to you today?" Kim asked, as Tommy cleared the table and then nodded that they might want to go ahead and head upstairs. He knew that she was tired and would not want to have to come back downstairs anytime tonight. He would do the dishes tomorrow morning before he headed to the school, if he had the time.

"Well, I had a good day, until I got to my last period class. Randall has to do observations on the teachers, you know how it is and today was the day that she picked for me to be observed, without notification. I have never had an observation go that bad. I was giving them a test when she walked in and after they finished it, I told them to start the next chapter's vocabulary, although I rarely do that. I just knew that they needed something to do to keep them occupied this time. When she came in they were taking their test and I had nothing planned besides that test. You know how my tests are and how long they take for some students to finish. The first person didn't turn in their test until there was only fifteen minutes left in class, what was I supposed to do? I failed my observation from her because I showed her no instructional planning or work while she was in there. Kim, I don't know what I am going to do. I couldn't tell them to quit taking their test, so I could do a damn lesson, but now I just have no clue about anything anymore. She wants me to give tests weekly and then she chooses the day that I give a test to observe me," Tommy said, as Kim looked over at him and then sat down on their bed, exhausted from her day.

"You're doing your job, though, Tommy. There is nothing more that they can ask from you and I am sure that the assistant principal understands all of this," Kim said, as she lay on her side and watched him walk around to the other side of the bed. Tommy and the assistant principal got along fine, but there were times that Tommy had to deal with Randall, no matter what he wanted to do. "Randall and you just got off on the wrong foot a few years ago."

"I know, but I can't keep on living on her whims. One week, she's telling me that my tests need to be harder and the next week, she tells me that I have failed too many students; I should be easier on them. I just want them to tell me what they want from me and I'll do it," Tommy said, as he reached over and rubbed the small of her back. He had known that it had bothered her more over the last few weeks and there was nothing better for him to do at the moment. He needed something to concentrate on besides his anger and she was good for that cause.

"I know, I had the same thing happen to me, but I don't think that they even know what they want from you some times. There is so much that they have to account for and if you don't do a good job then it reflects badly on them. How bad are the kids failing the tests, Tommy?" Kim asked, knowing that there could be multiple reasons for them to fail and she just wanted to make sure he was covering himself right now. She knew that he didn't need to give Randall any more excuses to come after him, although she knew that the tests came straight from the material that he taught.

"Most of them it is just by a couple of points, but I have a few kids that are bombing every test that they come to; they don't pay attention and they don't care," Tommy said, as he knew that these were the kids that did not pay attention in class, at all. He had told Randall that they didn't pay attention and her solution for it was that he needed to write them up more. If he decided to do that, then he would just get yelled at some more, so they were just going to fail his class, but that was going to make some coaches mad.

"There is nothing that you can do to change that Tommy. You teach them the material; it is their job to pay attention to you. You don't have the time to baby-sit kids who don't understand it or want to try to understand it," Kim said, as she had thought about teaching high school for a few months in college, but quickly decided elementary was better for her. She was barely the same height as some of the high school kids and she did not want them to take advantage of her, like she knew that they had tried to do to Tommy, although they did not succeed. He was tough, but the kids could pass, if they just paid attention to him in class. "Little lower, please."

"Sure," Tommy said with a smile as he moved his hands slightly lower on her back and continued to move them in soothing circles of pressure. "But Kim, what happens if Randall decides to get rid of me?"

"Handsome, if she does that, you can rely on the one thing that has gotten you through so many other things. The dojo is thriving and I think that you could make a living doing just that if you had to," Kim said, as she knew that the thought had crossed his mind several times to work at the dojo full time, but he loved the teaching too much to just quit on the kids one day.

"I know, but as much as I love working at the dojo; I love teaching just as much," Tommy said as Kim rolled over to face him, negotiating the way she turned with her belly.

"Then don't worry about it. She's not going to fire you tonight and after what you said to her last year, I don't think that she ever will," Kim said with a smile as he reached down to give her a kiss on the cheek before getting out of bed to change out of his regular clothes. Kim was living in pajamas now and she was already trying to settle down for the night and he would soon be joining her on that little mission.

AN: Alright, I hope that you like this chapter. Please review, even if you don't like it. I will accept any type of feedback on this story, as it is about to pick up in length a great deal over the next few chapters and I really just need something to keep me going. I know some people like it, its just nice to hear it every once in awhile.


	6. Tommy

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, and Mallory Wiggins.

Now, on with the Story!

_Kim's POV (The Night of February 15th)_

I awoke tonight and felt a pain surge through my abdomen, causing my breath to quicken and for me to reach out for Tommy's hand, but I wound up clutching part of the thinly padded bedspread instead, as I was unable to find it after a few seconds of frantic searching. I knew that I had gone into labor, even if it is two weeks earlier than my projected due date, but Tommy must have been called out tonight, as our bed lacked the warmth that emanated from his body. I rolled over, which is quite difficult for me to do with the way my belly protrudes out now, and got the full view of his empty side of the bed and it made me ache for him to be at my side. Then, when I rolled back over to my other side, I saw a note left on my nightstand, clearly in Tommy's half-awake handwriting.

Alpha had called him out of bed, as Mesogogg's forces had attacked Reefside and the other rangers were not able to hold their own and keep the city safe without him going out there to help them tonight. Why did it have to be tonight that Mesogogg decided to come back in full force, the one night that I needed him to be here with me, to take care of me? I reached for my communicator, which was in one of the upper drawers of the nightstand and held it to my lips, before I felt the second contraction hit my body. As I waited for the pain to pass, I knew that there was nothing left for me to do except, I had to call Tommy out of the battle and home, to take me to the hospital.

"Tommy," Kim's panicked voice rang out of his communicator, like a shotgun blast in the midst of a quieted battle. As Tommy looked at Zeltrax, who he was in a heated battle with, and watched as Richard and Elsa, moved closer, to hear the transmission between wife and husband.

All of them knew why the pink ranger wasn't there and they could only hope that their master's ultimate plan had, somehow, worked out the way that he hoped it would. That, the supposedly great, Tommy Oliver was going to have to choose between fighting them and going home to take care of his wife, although it did eat at Richard that his master was doing this. He knew if something bad were to happen to that baby, the black ranger, would go after them with a vengeance like no one had ever seen before from him and that was not something they necessarily needed to deal with, as they had just managed to get themselves back into their fighting form.

"Kim, now's not a good time, sweetie, unless it is an emergency," Tommy said, as he held Zeltrax at bay, but he could hear Trent approaching to help him, if only for a little while.

The tryadrones had been tearing into his fellow rangers for a good while now and they had only recently gotten them down to a manageable size, which had allowed Trent to come over and help the struggling black ranger. He had wished more than once that Kim would have been out there with them, but what she was doing was much more important. He would then push the thought of her being with him from his mind, for awhile, as he became very sloppy when he thought about her, at home, alone, and nine months pregnant.

"It's time, Tommy," Kim mumbled in a voice barely above a whisper and as he caught that sentence, he threw Zeltrax to the ground, in one quick and rather harsh motion.

It had been his worst fear to hear that sentence ring out across his communicator when he was in the midst of the first heated battle since Mesogogg had re-established his forces. He knew that he had to get out of there now, but would the other rangers understand where he was going, even though they knew full well how far along Kim was and could probably guess why he was being called away.

"Go, Tommy," Trent said, as Zeltrax was taking his time to stand up, as Tommy had used more strength than Zeltrax thought that he had left inside of him after the beating he had been dealing out to him. This might be the only chance he was given to leave the situation, without Zeltrax or one of the other goons coming after him and keeping him from getting to her.

Trent had heard what the pregnant, pink ranger had mumbled and had watched the black ranger try to keep his cool as he threw Zeltrax across the empty parking lot and into a row of garbage cans. He knew that Tommy had to leave, his family was depending on him now, and they would be able to do this without him. He had taught them enough that they knew that they could do this on their own, although it would be rough, now that they were two rangers down in the field and knew that they would be for several days. Now that the baby was coming, they could think about that last battle that they were going to be forced to fight and know that the two of them would be there to help them.

"Trent, you have to be careful," Tommy said, looking at him and trying to convey that once he left that he would be gone for good, he couldn't come back to help them. They would no longer have back up, unless Hayley and Alpha were forced to ask Jason to morph, as he had already agreed to do so if it came down to that. They just didn't want it to come down to that, they knew what that would mean.

"We'll handle it, now go before they realize what's happening," Trent said, blocking Mesogogg's goons view of Tommy and they knew what was going on, but there was no way to stop him.

"Alright," Tommy said and quickly teleported back into their bedroom, to see Kim's bedside lamp was turned on, but she was no longer lying in bed. Their bed was abandoned and he was worried that he was already too late and that Hayley had, had to drive her to the hospital, which was something he would never hear the end of if that had happened.

He then spotted her, now sitting on the floor, gripping a pillow with all her might, as she waited for him to arrive, obviously in pain. Without a second thought, he powered down and walked over to her spot on the floor, where she was rocking back and forth, trying to decrease the pain that was running through her petite body.

She didn't notice his presence, until he had placed his arm around her and it was only then that she looked up at him, biting her lower lip the entire time. He could tell the pain was almost too much for her already, but she was trying to put up a brave face for him, although he could see right through it. She was scared and in pain, but he was there and it made everything alright in her mind, although he had no clue as to why he had that affect on her, but he somehow did.

"Tommy," Kim whispered, as he put both of his arms around her in a reassuring hug and watched some of the tension leave her face, knowing that he was there to take care of her and he was not going to leave her, no matter what happened to their fellow rangers. He placed a hand on her belly, feeling the increased tightness from the contraction that was occurring, before giving her a kiss on the forehead and then heading towards the closet to grab the bag she had packed earlier that week.

"How long has it been Beautiful?" Tommy asked, as he helped her to stand up and she heard their communicator's ring out into the silence of their home and Tommy did not even attempt to answer it, which was odd for him.

He was sure that it would be a question as to why he had left the battle, without so much as giving all of them an explanation for it, although Trent knew exactly where he was going. He would surely fill in the missing details after the battle, as he knew shouting it out could only increase the danger that they were already in. They couldn't do that to them and they knew that they had to help keep the two of them safe.

"Long enough, Tommy," Kim said, as she reached for her own communicator and answered the call, rather hesitantly. She was not sure who was going to be on the other end of the line, but she knew that Tommy would be curious the entire time they were at the hospital, if he didn't find out about it right away. He would not admit that it was playing on his mind, but it would be there and she did not need for it to be there while she was in labor. So, she was answering the toll as much for him as she was for herself. "Yes, Alpha."

"Kim, are you alright?" Hayley's voice said, as she had overheard the transmission, in the command center, but had hesitated to go up and check on Kim, as things down in the command center were still very hectic, as they were constantly energizing the drained rangers. It just seemed that they could not hold onto their powers long enough for them to defeat a couple of tryadrones, which was not a good thing to be looking at. She felt the sudden implication that this wasn't a false alarm and that they were going to be headed to the hospital soon.

That trip was not going to be so good for all of the rangers. It now left them one ranger down in the field and from what she was watching, it was going to get pretty messy without Tommy out there to help them tonight. She only hoped that they had been right when they said that the four teenagers could handle it on their own, if things came down to that and they now had. As they were now being tested in a new way and if they failed the whole world would be in danger of what these monsters could do, but she knew that Tommy had a backup plan, just in case that very thing happened. It, however, was not a plan that anyone wanted to implement while Kim and Tommy were not able to be out there fighting with the others.

"I'll be fine, Hayley," Kim said, as Tommy nodded for her to bring the communicator closer to his face. He couldn't reach for his, as she had a firm grip on his left hand while they descended the stairs at a slow and steady pace.

If they ever had another child, she was going to remember to sleep downstairs when her due date was close, as going down these stairs just added more pressure to her body. She could tell that Tommy was thinking the same thing for the next time that they were in this situation, which would probably be a few years from now, at the absolute least.

"Hayley, do me a favor," Tommy said, as they had reached the bottom of the steps, but Kim had stopped him from progressing any farther as she grabbed his shirt, with her right hand and pulled herself closer to his body. He could tell she was having another contraction and reached his arm around her to keep her from sinking to the ground, as the pain struck a little bit harder with each passing second. He immediately felt her shift her weight onto his body and held her securely, in an attempt to reassure her that things would be fine, as she had begun to shake, even with his arms around her. He hated knowing that he had caused this pain and he only hoped that it would be short lived. "Call Jason and the others, they wanted to know when everything started. Make sure you get in touch with my parents, too. They'll want to be at the hospital while everything goes on."

"I will Tommy, just get going," Hayley said, as Alpha quickly brought over a telephone and a list of the fellow rangers' telephone numbers. This was one emergency that they had not had occur to the rangers, but there is always a first time for everything and this was that time for them.

"Your car," Tommy said, although Kim took it as a question.

She was feeling sick and hoping that she could just manage to hold down her supper from earlier that evening, as she leaned more on Tommy and he carefully picked her up some with each step that he took. She had thought that being hit by Richard's pulses drained her, but the few contractions that she had, had managed to drain her strength faster than any of those pulses.

"Yeah," Kim said, feeling Tommy's free hand rubbing her back while they walked towards the front door, which alleviated some of the tension in her lower back. "Tommy, if something goes wrong…"

"Kim, don't talk like that," Tommy said gravely, as the last time they had went to the doctor, the doctors had thought that the baby might be a little bit too big for Kim to deliver on her own.

Neither one wanted to deal with the option of her having a C-section, so they decided to think positively about the situation as a whole, although Tommy had let some reality slip into his mind over the last few days. They knew that would keep her out of the battlefield for much longer and they knew it was only a matter of time before they had the final battle against Mesogogg and they would need her, no matter how much they had hoped they would be able to handle it without her if it came to that.

Right now, they were just buying their time. It was not a comfortable game to play, with the little one that was so anxious to make its appearance into this world, knocking at their door. For the past nine months, they had been playing this game, but Mesogogg decided to show back up, right as the birth of their first child was upon them. They hated this creature's timing, but they both had confidence in their fellow rangers, although the teenagers only heard it when they needed to. They also knew that their friends wouldn't let them down if something happened that would call them out tonight, although they both knew that they wanted to be in the waiting room, instead of in a heated battle against a group of overcharged puddies and a metal being that was worse than Goldar.

"Tommy…" Kim muttered as he simply put one finger over her lips, to quiet her worries. The only thing she needed to have on her mind was having the baby, nothing else. He would do the job of taking care of all of the worries for the two of them.

"It's all going to be fine, I promise you. Can you make it around the car on your own?" Tommy asked, reluctant to let go of her, as another contraction could hit her at any time.

"Yeah, I should be able to," Kim said, as Tommy let go of her and went to put the suitcase in the trunk and by the time he had gotten in the driver's seat, Kim had situated herself in the passengers seat and was clutching the console that sat between the two of them. He reached over to grab her hand and felt her eyes land on his face as he started up the car and began their trip towards the hospital.

She could tell Tommy was thinking about the inconvenience of Mesogogg's return, and she knew that it was tearing at him to have to leave a battle, but he had assured her, from the beginning that she was it for him. The rangers meant a lot to him, but he would not ignore her call if it came to that and he kept his promise, which must have been hard to do with the knowing dangers in the field had increased, even more, starting tonight. She couldn't help but thinking about what happened when Ivan Ooze came back, he was much more powerful than he had been, years before and they were afraid that Mesogogg would be the same way and it seemed that he was. She knew that having the baby would stop some of Tommy's stress, but it would also open up some more, for the both of them.

"You're going to be fine," Tommy said, as she smiled over at him, noticing that his communicator was glowing an odd shade of pink, as it always seemed to do when they held hands.

"Thank you," Kim said simply letting the smile continue on her lips, as she did not want to have to deal with the thought of the pain coming back right away.

"For what?" Tommy asked, carefully guiding her car out of the woods, towards the paved road and the city of Reefside.

He reached in his pocket for his cell phone, assuring that he had turned it on. He knew that once Hayley got the call out, that the other rangers would head towards the hospital, as soon as possible. He was glad that he could depend on his friend's for that, as it was sure to be hectic for the next few hours and they would both need the extra support and they would possibly even need them to go fight, if things went horribly wrong.

"Keeping your promises, Tommy," Kim said, as she got a firmer grip on his hand and he gave her a smile as a small groan escaped her lips.

_At the Hospital_

"Where is Kimberly Oliver?" Jason asked the admission clerk as Trini and he entered the hospital, roughly forty minutes after they had been awakened from a peaceful slumber by the sound of a ringing telephone.

Jason had been the one to answer the telephone and was quite angry, as he heard Hayley's voice ring out across the line.

_Flashback_

"Hello," Hayley said, as politely as she could, hoping that Jason would not be mad at her or that she would have been lucky enough for Trini to have answered the phone. Within a few seconds of saying those words, she heard a dial tone being and she knew that she had been unlucky enough for Jason to be the one to answer the phone tonight. She prepared herself for his reaction and then dialed the number again, knowing she was going to have to get through to him, somehow. "Jason, do not hang up on me!"

"What the hell are you doing calling me at this time of night, knowing good and damn well that I am asleep at this time and so is any sane person on the face of this Earth right now!" Jason yelled, as Hayley held the phone out away from her ear and watched as Alpha stared at it. He had rarely heard Jason blow up like that, but this was certainly an unpleasant experience to have to be forced to hear after such a long night.

"Jason! Kim went into labor!" Hayley yelled in order to get his attention and she heard the phone clatter to the floor before he jerked the phone back up and stared at it for a few seconds before figuring out that this was not a dream.

"You're serious?" Jason asked, as he looked at the phone and he could not believe the words that he just heard, but he was afraid there would be much more to come along with it. Hayley wouldn't have called right now if there wasn't, although they had asked to be notified. He had just thought that it wouldn't be at this time of night.

"Yes Jason, but there are some other things you need to know about," Hayley said. She assumed that Jason would be able to figure it out and then state what he thought, but he didn't. He obviously was not awake yet. "Jason, there is a battle going on in Reefside tonight and they're two men down out there now that Tommy has had to leave. I know that this is going to be hard for you to do, but I have to know. I can't tell them that they have absolutely no back up."

"I will, if you need me, but I don't want to have to do that," Jason said, walking over to the closet to get him a pair of sneakers. He knew he was not going to have a chance to change clothes once Trini woke up, as she would want to leave right away, no matter what he said to her.

"I know Jason, but Tommy requested that you come to the hospital," Hayley said as she could tell the Jason was being tempted to say 'duh', but he refrained himself, somehow, due to the fact that he had cussed her out when he first answered the phone.

"I'll be there, just give me a little while to wake Trini up," Jason said, before he hung up the phone and he looked over at Trini, prepared to wake her up. She was not as bad as most people at this time of night, but she was still bound to be moody for a few seconds. "Trini, wake up."

"What's going on, Jason?" Trini asked as she opened her eyes and looked up at Jason who looked upset and worried, which was odd instead of him being furious for having to be up at this time of night.

"Kim's gone into labor and Reefside's under attack," Jason said, as Trini slung the covers off herself and jumped out of bed as quickly as she could.

"No way, Jason. How can that be happening?" Trini asked as she threw on a t-shirt and ran to put on a pair of flip-flops. She knew that this was going to be one crazy night and that was no good for them.

"I don't know, but it all is," Jason said as he followed her out of the front door and carefully locked it behind him as he stormed out of the house.

"How fast are you going to drive?" Trini asked, as he hopped in the car, knowing that this was the worst case scenario that most of them had envisioned.

"As fast as I can," Jason said looking over at her. The fear and worry had not truly set in yet, but it was residing inside of him, bursting to get out.

_End of Flashback_

"She is in room 502," the clerk said, as this was the third person to ask for the woman's room number within an hour of her admission and she wondered how many more people would be coming through the door with that same question. As the husband had warned her, that some of their friends would be arriving, within the next hour or so, but she had not been wise enough to listen to the young man and had now decided to write it on a piece of paper, for safe keeping and easy reference in case anyone else asked.

"Thank you," Jason said, as Trini and he headed towards the elevator shaft. When they arrived in the waiting room, they were surprised to see Rocky and Ally already situated on the floor, with Ally's head resting in Rocky's lap, dead to the world.

They had been awakened by the phone call and Ally was barely able to keep her eyes open on the short drive to the hospital, but Rocky seemed to be wide-awake, as he was nervous about this and the other things that he knew were happening. The Oliver's were both sipping on a cup of coffee, looking as calm as could be expected for first time grandparents. The person who had the worst nerves was Tommy, but they knew he would hold them inside, as his jitters did not need to pass to his wife at the time.

"Hey, Jason," Mrs. Oliver said, as she noticed him come into the room, with Trini only a few feet behind him. Her son's best friend looked to be quite worried about what was going on and had obviously just hopped out of the bed and came, but she also knew how much Kim meant to him as well. When she saw his wife enter behind him, she got the feeling that they were both very nervous about all of this and they had the right to be. None of them wanted Kim to have to have a C-section, but they knew that it might happen, although Tommy refused to talk to them about that, at all. Mrs. Oliver got the feeling that would be a last ditch effort, as there were some things that seemed to pressing on her son's nerves, besides Kim going into labor tonight, but there was no time to ask questions now. All of that could be saved for later and she knew that all too well with Kim and Tommy, they had always seemed to have a secret that their lives depended upon it being kept that way and she had accepted that a long time ago. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, Mrs. Oliver, do we know anything about the baby yet?" Jason asked, as Trini reached out for his hand and he gladly took hers in his own. He was thankful that he had her after all of the years that he had denied his feelings about her to himself and the greater part of the world. She was the one person that could calm him down with a simple look or smile and she had been trying her best to do that all night, as he was truly worried.

She had been assuring him on the whole ride up there that Kim had just gone into labor and everything would be fine, but they both knew that there were other things going on in Reefside on the night of Friday, February 15th. Things that could put their friend's lives in danger, as well as their still unborn child and he didn't like knowing what was going on, at all. He knew that the other rangers felt the same way about it, but they couldn't do anything to change it now.

They knew what they were waiting for and Jason was prepared to lose his job, as he knew that the call to suit back up was only a few months, at most, away now. They could not continue to risk citizens' lives because of Mesogogg and the sooner they got rid of him, the sooner they could go back to a somewhat normal life.

"No, honey, it'll probably be awhile. That's just how it goes with first time mothers," Mrs. Oliver said, with a smile. She had expected Tommy's and Kim's friends to arrive for the next hour or so, but as the first couple had come in, it was obvious they all had other things that were concerning them, things that seemed to affect them on a much larger scale than just having a baby. Although she could not think of many things that would be bigger than this baby coming into the world for most of them at this moment in their lives, but she did not know about them being involved in fighting the monster that was attacking Reefside right now and that was something that they were all thankful for. She had no clue of the amount of danger her son and his wife were in, but it was going to be fine, as long as there were still rangers around to help protect them. "But Tommy wanted to talk to the two of you when you got here, so you can go on back if you want to."

"Thank you, Mrs. Oliver," Jason said, as they went out of the doors at the back of the waiting room, trying to find the room Kim was in and praying that everything was going fine.

When they got to the corridor that was labeled for her room, he heard her groan with pain before they reached the door and he looked over at Trini, wondering if they should wait before they entered the room. They did not want to cause any more distress, but something was eating at Tommy, if he requested that he see Jason as soon as he arrived at the hospital. Trini looked over at Jason, realizing he was not going to be the first to act in this situation and she quietly turned the knob on the door, hoping that she would not get hit by something that Kim would aim at her at the sight of seeing the door being opened.

"Kim," Trini said, quietly, as she slipped open the door and Tommy nodded that it was all right for them to come in. She was surprised to see Kim turned on her side and clutching Tommy's hand, but she saw that the pain would soon pass, then they would be able to talk with a rational Kim. "Hey sweetie."

"Hey, Trini," Kim said, as her best friend gave her a hug and then Trini looked over at Tommy to let him know she'd take care of her for awhile if he wanted her to. He let go of her hand, but did not make a move to leave his chair, as Jason warily entered the room and started rubbing the toe of his sneakers on the floor. He was not sure if he wanted to stay in there very long, as Kim was bound to go through mood swings throughout the whole process and he would not be any help with that, as he usually just aggravated her even more. "Your husband's a little scared now, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's just worried about you," Trini said, as Tommy got up out of the chair and headed towards Jason. Trini quickly sat down; to keep up the small talk with Kim, as she could tell there was a sense of urgency in Tommy's actions. Whatever he had to say to Jason was important and they both sensed that, although they were not willing to say anything to Tommy about his odd behavior. He knew it was there just as much as they did and there was no need to waste their breath to point it out to him. "You look pretty good, considering."

"Thanks, but it doesn't feel all that great," Kim said, as she reached up to brush a piece of hair out of her face and felt that it was soaked with sweat. Although she had been there only a little over an hour, she had already started sweating profusely and Tommy had managed to get a wet rag for her, but she slung it off every time she had a contraction. She needed to look at him when she was having a contraction and the rag always seemed to slip off her forehead, although Tommy would gently hold it there until she could place it on her own. How she got his forgiveness, she would never know, but she was so happy that she had and now was having their baby, which was something she thought she would never be able to say for a few years. It was wonderful to be going through this, although the pain did change her mind every once in awhile, as she had so graciously let Tommy know already. "Do you know what the two of them have to talk about?"

"I have no clue," Trini said, looking over at the monitor and seeing that a contraction had started, but the only change in Kim was that she had stopped talking and was steadily breathing, while staring at the door through which Tommy had exited through. Trini got the feeling that she was trying to will Tommy to come back in right away, but she was not certain that it was working, as she could make out muffled voices outside of the door, as Jason and Tommy talked about whatever had been bothering him. "Do you?"

"Nope, wish I did," Kim said with a smile as she felt a surge of more intense pain wipe over her body and a warm liquid run between her legs, as her water broke. She looked over at Trini for a few seconds before focusing on ignoring the pain that she was in. She would tell her doctor about it when she came in to check on her again. It wasn't like she could go back and change it now, any ways, although they would need to change the sheets on her bed pretty soon.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Jason asked, as Tommy took him outside the door and he noticed him start fiddling with his communicator, which was an old nervous habit of Tommy's.

He had always fiddled with the thing when things got rough, so it did not surprise Jason that he was doing that now, as there was an intense battle going on and his wife was in labor right now as well. Tommy had been in some stressful situations before, but this one had to be at the top of his list, from what Jason could tell of his actions and he did not blame him in the least bit for acting the way that he was. He had so much more to worry about than anyone else and if he was able to get some of the stress out now, it would be better for all of them.

"I'm fine, but I need you to hold onto this for me," Tommy said, taking his communicator off and handing it to Jason, with a small bit of hesitation as he let it drop into Jason's hands. He didn't want to do it, but he had to somehow be able to keep his mind off of the other duty that he had pledged to uphold.

Jason stared at the communicator and then up at Tommy before the realization hit him of what he was asking. He was asking him to take it and if they needed him, to morph and go out there to help, as there was no way he could leave Kim now. He, also, didn't want to leave the rangers without their fifth ranger, as they knew exactly why the sixth ranger was not there. They also knew that the fifth ranger couldn't come, unless things got really bad out there and even then he might not come, as the sixth ranger and their baby meant more to him than fighting any monster ever would. At one point in his life, he might have said that he would finish the battle and then come get her, but things had changed since then. She was the only one that it would be worth doing things like this for and everyone knew that very well.

"Tommy, I can't do this. It's bonded to you. It won't let me morph," Jason whispered, as he tried to give the device back to his friend, but saw that he was determined to not have it pressing on his mind anymore than it already was. He needed the reassurance that someone would be able to go out there if the call came that he was needed to help. He knew Jason would give him that, although he did not want to be called into action tonight, while Kim was having the baby, but he could tell Tommy was thinking of the same thing. He wanted to stay at the hospital, but he knew that it was better for him to be called out than Tommy, as Tommy could not offer any help to them right now. He had to stay at the hospital with her or he would be likely to find himself there because of an injury, as he would be too distracted to fight anything that came in front of him. "Alright, but I'm sure that they'll be able to handle it on their own, Tommy. After all, you taught them everything that thy know about doing this."

"They should stop by here when the battle is over with Jason. I know Hayley will be heading up here then, just let them know everything is alright and tell them to get some rest," Tommy said, as he heard a groan reverberate from behind the closed door and Jason gave him a knowing nod as he turned to head back into the hospital room. He knew how much Tommy hated to see Kim in pain, but this was one time that he was sure that the pain would be well worth it, in the end.

_At the Battle_

Within minutes of the black ranger's departure, they found themselves backed up against a wall, literally, as they were feeling the brick of an old building behind them with their gloved hands and praying they'd be able to get out of this alive. Their powers were being depleted faster than they could be replenished and they knew Zeltrax, Elsa, and Richard could tell it by their sloppy actions. They had sent the tryadrones back to Mesogogg, as they did not want anymore of them to be destroyed, knowing they would be essential in the battles that were still to come against them and possibly a few other rangers.

"I'll take, Richard," Kira said, as she knew that they had no choice but to try to divide and conquer now. They were not going to call Hayley and tell her that they needed back up, as that would mean either asking Tommy to leave Kim or one of the retired rangers to morph and help them. They knew that they could do it, but it was just a matter of getting it into their heads that they really were as capable as Tommy and Kim had told them that they were, on numerous occasions. They had always thought that Kim and Tommy would be there and now that they weren't, they were having to rely on the words of encouragement that they got from them in the past and they could only hope that was enough. "The three of you divide up the other ones."

"Kira, don't," Trent said, as he knew the history of Richard's past with the pink ranger. If Richard felt the same way about Kira, he wasn't sure if he wanted her anywhere close to the maniac and Kira being his girlfriend did not make him anymore comfortable with the decision that she had made. Dr. O had always told them to rely on each other, but now they had suddenly decided that they didn't need to do this. "We can do this together."

"I agree with her Trent, we have to divide and conquer or we will have to call Dr. O in," Ethan said, as he had the feeling that the yellow ranger had a good idea about how to handle this. If they could get them alone then they could each work on their opponent's weaknesses and they knew what those were, as Alpha informed them every time that he found something that would be beneficial to the group and he had managed to find a lot for them to use. "We're wasting time, we better get to work on this or we will have to call Hayley and none of us want to do that."

The young rangers soon found themselves facing their, individual, opponents. Trent and Conner had decided to tag team against Zeltrax, as he was the most heavily armored of the group, although he was already slightly hampered from some injuries that Tommy had caused him to have earlier that evening. Kira was making some progress against Richard, although he had seemed to gain some fighting techniques over the prolonged absence in the fighting, but he had not gained enough for her to be truly scared, as she knew that Tommy had prepared her as well as he could. Ethan was easily working against Elsa, although she seemed to have much more in for him than they wanted to admit.

"You are too much like little Kimberly. You didn't learn anything from those past battles did you," Richard said, as he had managed to throw Kira to the ground, which caused her to let a small cry of pain escape before she reigned her voice back in. He was getting tired of waiting to see Kim again, although she was probably in the midst of having another man's child right now, which made him even more irate and it seemed that Kira was the unlucky one to have to deal with his wrath.

"You creep," Kira said, as she placed a kick in the center of his chest, which caused him to take a few steps back. Kira then noticed an invisaportal had opened up behind Mesogogg's goons and she could only hope that they would not attempt to take any of them through it tonight, as she knew exactly what that would mean for the people in the hospital waiting room. They would all be going to get their powers back and come after the person that was missing, although they probably would not be able to go after Mesogogg right then, as it was going to take all of them to defeat him. "Watch out for the invisaportal, guys."

"Can do," Ethan yelled, as he managed to throw Elsa through the portal and watched as Richard and Zeltrax quickly retreated, although they knew that this would not be the end of all of this. In a matter of seconds, they had gathered, powering down as they made a small semi-circle, with Trent putting his arm around Kira, who was a little bit shaken up from the attack.

"That was weird," Conner said, as the others nodded in agreement. They had been through worse fights and the goons would not leave, but they did not seem to want to defeat them tonight. All they wanted to do tonight was to gage how much they had improved and see how many more improvements they would have to make and it seemed that they were going to have to be doing quite a bit of work on Earth. Tommy had been so worried about Kim's safety that it seemed their improvements came as a second thought. "We better get out of here. I don't like how things feel right now."

"Yeah, I'm with you," Kira said, as they teleported to the command center, to see how much needed to be done before they could get to the hospital.

_Back at the Hospital_

As the hours passed, the other rangers showed up, many of them wanting to visit Kim, but knowing it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do at the time. If she wanted any of them to be in there with her, then she would ask for them, as she had already requested that Trini stay with her. Jason gave them the little bit of information he had been given, to tide the flow of questions, until Tommy was able to answer the more pressing ones later.

When the current rangers walked in, he could tell that the battle had certainly been rough after Tommy had left, but they had managed to push Mesogogg's goons back, for the time being. The only thing was, they never knew when he would decide to come back, and they did not like that idea at all.

"How is she?" Conner asked with eagerness in his voice while walking up to Jason and seeing the older ranger take a deep breath at how he had worded the question.

He knew that it went deeper for the four of them, if Kim was still cooped up in the hospital when the next attack came, they were honestly wondering where their backup would come from. As they knew Tommy was not going to leave her side and they did not blame him at all for that one. It was his wife and they knew how much she meant to him, especially after seeing his reaction to her being captured last year. If something were to happen to her, they did not know what they would do or more importantly what he would do.

"She's alright Conner, just going through labor and it seems like it might still be awhile before we know anything about whether or not she'll have a C-section," Jason said, as he saw there was another question in the boy's eyes, but he could not ask it in front of everyone in this crowd, knowing some of them had no knowledge that they were the current rangers. "Why don't all of you go home and get some rest? You've had a long night."

Jason then held up his wrist, showing Tommy's communicator was sitting there and he knew the boy understood what the gesture meant to all of them. He would be their black ranger if the call went out before Kim had delivered the baby and as long as she was in the hospital, as none of them were going to ask Tommy to leave her alone in the hospital, it was just too risky. The way that Mesogogg was, there was no telling whether or not he would try to do something as sinister as capture Kim and the baby from the hospital, which they all knew would push Tommy to the point of murder if they were not careful. They really did not want him to do that, but if Mesogogg was dumb enough to mess with Tommy's emotions like that, then they would let him do whatever he felt he had to, to get them back and insure that they were safe.

"Not any longer that Dr. O," Kira said, and then yawned, as she felt Trent put a protective arm around her and guide her to a vacant seat in the crowded waiting room. "Hayley's on her way. She had some things she had to clean up before she could make it out here."

She was very tired, but she knew that Tommy and Kim would have been there for any of them if something had happened that landed them in the hospital and they had been when she had been put in the hospital by Elsa during one of the last battles to date. She had been unfortunate enough to wind up with a concussion and that landed her in the hospital for a night, but they had come to visit and even offered to stay, if she wanted them to.

They were much more than just their fellow rangers and they didn't like to admit it, but they knew that either one of them would do anything to keep them safe, even if they were risking their own safety and they did that quite a few times. They were their extended family, although they didn't want to admit that they felt that they would be pushed away when the baby appeared on the scene.

"Alright," Jason said, as the four teenagers, tiredly took their places in the little available space left in the very crowded waiting room.

Tommy had said he would come out and give them an update, every so often, but he had only made it out there once, so far and it had been a very short visit at that, as Trini had retrieved him to come back to Kim's side. She had not been able to endure the pain as they hoped and it made it nearly impossible for Tommy to leave the room at all, as she was scared she would have a contraction while he was gone and she did not want to have to deal with it without him by her side.

"Jason, you think that they'll mind if I go help Hayley clean up?" Billy asked, as he had the feeling that their was quite a bit of repair work that needed to be done back at the command center and that was the last thing that Kim and Tommy needed to be worried about, when they saw how the rangers were looking.

They looked bad to anyone with a normal eye, but to someone with a ranger's perspective, they had just been through one of the ten hardest fights that they could ever remember, from how they looked. He knew that they had to protect the teen's identity and by them coming and being as tired as they were, they were risking things, but they wanted to be there, which was something he understood all too well. They had always been able to pull sleepless nights to make sure that their fellow rangers were all right, although this was definitely a different circumstance.

"No, I think they would appreciate that one," Jason said, and Billy quickly exited the room, knowing that he should call Hayley, to assure that she would need his help. With the three of them working, they could get the job done in a matter of minutes, instead of the hours it would take Alpha and her to do alone.

Hayley had been just as eager about this baby's arrival as everyone else had and Billy wanted to get her there as soon as he could. He missed her and as much as he wanted to try to deny it, he had fallen in love and it was only a matter of time before he moved to Reefside and asked her to marry him. He could find a job, anywhere, if he tried hard enough and he was more than willing to do that for her, as her cyber cafe was already well established in Reefside, so what was the need in moving it?

"Tommy, why don't you go get a cup of coffee and a snack? You look like you've been beat to a pulp tonight," Trini said, as the doctor had just placed Kim's epiderell and she was becoming more relaxed as the medicine took effect on her body.

Tommy's bruises from the latest battle were starting to appear and he could feel the soreness settling in his body, but he did not want to leave Kim alone, although she would be fine with Trini. His pain was nothing compared to what she was feeling and he was willing to sit there as it all set in, just so she would not have any reason to worry. She did not need to be worried and he was determined to keep that from happening, if he could.

"That's because I was and I don't want to leave, Trini," Tommy said, as Kim looked, tiredly over at him and motioned to him that it would be all right for him to go, for a little while. She was going to try to get some sleep, before she progressed too far, to where sleep was not an option anymore. She was exhausted and she knew that she needed to save up her energy for everything else that she had to do to deliver the baby, as she was determined to not have a C-section.

"Tommy, just go give your parents a progress report, I'm sure that they could deal with seeing you for a little while and the contractions aren't hurting anymore. I promise, it's okay Tommy," Kim said, as Tommy sighed and then gave her a kiss on the forehead, before going to exit the room.

"If you need me, send Trini to get me, Kim," Tommy said, as Kim smiled and nodded her head that she would do that. He did not have to worry about that one, as she had already talked to Trini about that when he left the last time.

"Hey, bro, you still doing alright?" Jason asked, as Tommy entered the waiting room, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cinnamon roll in the other, having decided it was best to take Trini's advice and get a snack, as he was truly hungry. Tommy looked tired and Jason could see the beginnings of a bruise on his right hand, but he did look happy nonetheless.

"Yeah," Tommy said, as he sat down next to his father, wanting some guidance, as he was beginning to feel nervous about becoming a father, especially with how things were going with Mesogogg now.

If things had still been calm, he would not have been feeling like this and everyone who knew about that knew part of the reason Tommy was so worried right now. Mesogogg was no fool and he knew a sure way to get the dino gems from Tommy would be by taking away his family and he could not let that happen. They meant more to him than anything else and he would do anything to protect them.

"How about Kim? How is she?" Aisha asked, as they had all turned their attention towards Tommy.

He looked out at the expectant faces and noticed that the newer rangers had arrived, but Trent was the only one still awake, although he was barely awake right now, but Hayley had not made it in yet, which worried him. The others had fallen asleep in the most awkward positions, but he was glad that they were all right after the battle and he was also glad that they did not have to go to school the next day. If they did, he was not sure they would even make it through first period without falling asleep, from exhaustion, among other things that were going on with their bodies and their minds.

"They just put in an epiderell, so she's not hurting like she was, but the doctors still give it four or five more hours before she has the baby," Tommy said, as they then resumed talking to their friends, but Tommy looked over at his father, hoping that he would be able to catch his attention without having to say too much. He knew that he needed to talk to him, about everything and he wasn't exactly sure how he would define that word, but it didn't matter, he had to get a lot of this off of his chest. "Dad, can we talk?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Mr. Oliver said, as Tommy stood up to exit the waiting room and he soon followed.

Tommy wanted it to be just the two of them, as he was not sure where he was going to go with this conversation and he was bound to say some things that had never been said between the two of them before. He knew that he was going to reveal some secrets that had been kept for a long time, but he needed to do that. So his father could understand what he was going through and maybe give him some advice on what he should do, although he had never been down this particular road in life. There were only a select few that could say that they had done what Tommy and many of his friends had done over their years in the service and none of them had children, yet, so he was the first to have to deal with that.

"Dad, were you worried when Mom and you adopted me?" Tommy asked, as the older man looked down at smiled at his son.

So, this was what he had been planning to talk to him about when they came up later today, but that unexpected call got them out of bed several hours earlier than they had expected, to travel to Reefside. It was funny how he had been thinking that Tommy might need something like this over the past couple of weeks, as he saw the nerves building up in his son, although he was doing a very good job of hiding it from his wife, which had been a skill that he had not been able to develop around his wife, even after close to thirty years together.

"Of course I was, Tommy. I mean, I had no clue how to change a diaper and I didn't even know that there was such a thing as formula until you came along, but I got over it and I don't think it's boasting to say that you turned out pretty good. There are always going to be things to worry about with your children, but you'll make the right decisions, I know that you will. You have a good wife that will stand beside you, in whatever you decide to do, Tommy. This is really eating at you, isn't it?" Mr. Oliver asked, as Tommy's worried expression had not changed at all since they had started talking and it usually would have relaxed some by now.

There was more to it than he thought, but he had no clue what else could be there for Tommy to tell him, not now at least. Tommy had always been protective of some things, but he couldn't imagine him deciding to open up about those things right now, unless there was a big picture that might not have good things happening for Kim and their baby. That was the only thing that could get Tommy to talk about something like that and he knew it all too well.

"It is, but there are some things you don't know about me, Dad. Things that only a few people know about me," Tommy said, as his father looked over at Tommy, thinking of affairs and other things before settling down his mind to realize that it could not be one of those. It must be something that no one would ever logically think of, so he waited for Tommy to continue, as that was the only way that he was going to find out what was really on his son's mind and he could not help but think that maybe he really was choosing now to tell him something very important and something that might make him despise him for the rest of his life. "You know all those times in high school, when I got home late and I looked like I had just been through the fight of my life? Well, there is an explanation for all of it, but I'm not sure that you will believe me when I say it."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything now, Tommy? You haven't looked like that for years, until tonight," Mr. Oliver said slowly, as he stared at Tommy while Tommy propped himself against a wall and thought for a few seconds. Did he really want to reveal to his father that he had been a Power Ranger for all of these years and that he was bringing a child into the world while he was still one and not an ordinary one a that. He was the one that had brought them the new powers and created this team, which made him both mentor and member at the same time. Could he tell his father about his worries for his baby by letting him know he still had the responsibility to protect the world from evil and knowing that it would make his child a possible target for those freaks? "Tommy, you aren't in trouble with the law are you?"

"No, Dad, it's more like I've become a type of law enforcement over the years that I have been involved in this," Tommy said, as his father pondered that statement and then looked over at him, realization shining in his deep blue, eyes. Was his son confessing that he had been a ranger when he was in high school? His mother and he had suspected it for years, but never thought there was a need to ask him, as he was helping people, after all. But now there was a new team of rangers in Reefside, which had originated to protect the world from a new evil that had appeared, after Tommy had nearly been killed on that damned island. His father then got the suddenly feeling were this was headed, his son was still a ranger, with a baby that he was soon going to be protecting as well. He desperately wanted some advice on how he needed to handle this, but no one would ever expect their child to make a confession like this, ever in their lifetime and there really was not a lot of advice that he could give him. "Dad, I was and I still am…"

"Tommy, we've known for a long time," Mr. Oliver said, abruptly, stopping his son from saying that he was a ranger in case anyone untrustworthy walked up and heard the conversation. "That was the main reason you didn't get grounded for your erratic behavior back then, so does that mean that all of your friends were, too?"

He knew that they still had to keep themselves hidden, although Tommy had revealed it to him, now, at a time where he was the one begging for someone to understand his situation, for someone to help him understand what he should do about all of this. He was not going to turn his back to his family, but he could not shun his duty as a ranger either and he knew that all too well, after all of these years of experience. There was no advice that he could give him, as he had never been and would never be put in that situation. It was just something that Tommy would have to find from within himself, which he was sure that he was capable of.

"Yeah," Tommy said, as he saw his father think of each person sitting in the waiting room, knowing that the majority of them had been or were currently serving on a ranger team. Then he watched as a light bulb went off in his father's head, if Tommy was a ranger again, then surely his wife had to be as well, which meant they were in added danger, as was their baby. Although Tommy's involvement, sure as hell put them in enough danger, if you asked him.

"Kim, too?" Mr. Oliver asked and for the first time had the realization of what Tommy was feeling, under the calm façade that he always carried around them. The two of them had the responsibility to protect the Earth, but they also had to protect their family as well, but that meant they would have to choose somewhere down the line. Tommy was having a hard enough time fully grasping the responsibility of fatherhood and the additional pressure of being a ranger led to his additional nervousness. The creature that was currently attacking the rangers had only recently started attacking again, after a year of little or no activity. Which he was now thankful for, knowing that it made it easier for Kim to deal with the pregnancy, as things had not been as hectic, until a few weeks ago and that kept them from worrying about the stress hurting the baby, too much. "Tommy, you have done a lot more than any of us will ever do and I know what you're thinking, trust me, I do, but you have to put up a strong front. You have a wife that loves you and will do anything to protect you and this baby, everything is going to be fine."

"How do you know that, Dad? How do you know that something won't just happen to her?" Tommy asked, as his father saw a look in his eyes that he had not seen in years. Tommy desperately needed some guidance, but he was not an expert in this area and could only give him words of encouragement, which might not be enough now any ways. As only a ranger could truly tell Tommy the advice he needed and he was to be the first ranger father, so he would have to do this the hard way and learn from experience.

"I don't know that Tommy, but I know how you feel about this and don't worry, when the time comes to choose, you'll make the right choice," Mr. Oliver said, as Trini walked up behind Tommy, looking slightly stressed.

"Tommy, Kim needs you back in there," Trini said, as Tommy looked from his father to her and then turned towards Kim's room, hearing the groans from twenty feet outside her door. She was not supposed to be in a lot of pain now, so why was she moaning like that?

"I thought they gave her an epiderell," Tommy said to Trini as she looked up at Tommy, rather hesitantly.

"They did, but they have to reduce it before she can start pushing," Trini said, as Tommy looked at her with round eyes. How long had he been talking to his father? He surely couldn't have been gone that long or could he have been? He knew that he lost track of time when he started talking about things of this type of importance, to someone who had no clue about it, but usually it took no more than twenty minutes to explain everything. "You haven't been gone very long Tommy, things just started to progress a little more quickly."

"Hey, Tommy, long time no see," Tanya said with a broad grin, as Tommy walked back into the delivery room. Kim had calmed down for the moment, but she could see the worry growing in Tommy's eyes. This is the part that the doctors had been worried about and Tanya could see him calculating how long Kim would have to push before they decided to make her have a C-section. She was now certain that Tommy and Kim were back in on the action, as Tommy had a faint bruise showing up on his cheek and a much darker one appearing on his shoulder, possibly from the battle that had been going on that night, although she could tell that Tommy had happily left the battle to come here. She had heard that the rest of the team had gotten them to leave, but she could not really believe that the calm would last for a very long time. It seemed that they were preparing for a long hard, hopefully, last fight. "It's gonna be fine, Tommy. Not every day a couple of my old friends have a baby."

"You can say that again," Tommy said, as he walked over to Kim's side and saw the look in her eyes. She was worried as well, but he hid his worry, for the time being and gave her a happy smile and a soft kiss on the forehead. He could not let her know that he was worried about this, as she was the one that would need the encouragement and support, which meant no worry could come from his corner tonight, although he was scared to death about all of this. He didn't want anything bad to happen to her or the baby and he knew the risks of either happening. "It's gonna be alright Beautiful, I promise."

"I know, Tommy," Kim said, as she felt another contraction begin, but Tanya had not told her to push and she was not going to do that until she was told to, although she did truly feel the urge to do so. She hated fighting the urge to push, but if she was not ready to, according to them, then she was not going to exert herself that extra bit. She was going to need all of the energy left in her to push the baby out and she knew that Tommy agreed with that. "Did they make it back alright?"

"Yeah, they did and they're all in one piece," Tommy said, as he felt her grip tighten on his hand and watched as Trini flinched from the force Kim was exerting on her hand as well. They had never known that she had, had such a strong grip, but now that they knew it, they knew that they were not going to make her mad while she had a hold of their hands.

"Kim, I know that this is going to be rough on you, sweetie, but with the next contraction, I need you to push for me," Tanya said, as Kim looked at her and nodded her head. Tommy took in a deep breath, knowing that the previous pain would be mild compared to what she was about to experience, at least from what they had told him. He felt her gaze fall on him and he turned to look at his wife, who had a scared look in her eyes, one he hated to see appear in those light brown orbs.

"Tommy, don't let go, please," Kim whispered, as she clung to her rock and her strength with all of her might. She watched as he placed his other hand on her cheek and then gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

She knew what the answer would be before he said it and she was grateful for all of that. He would let her break his hand, if that was what she needed in all of this. All he cared about was her and this baby being alright, he no longer mattered in his own eyes.

"I won't," Tommy said, as a nurse walked in and asked that Trini please step away from the bed and Tommy saw Kim's distress at the nurse's request. She wanted her best friend to be right there, saying the calm words that Tommy would not be able to.

"Sharon, let her stay," Tanya said, as Tommy's eyes pleaded with her to ask the nurse to change her mind, as he had noticed Kim's reaction to the request.

"Dr. Jackson, you know that one nurse has to be helping the mother and unless he is going to leave, then I need to stay," Sharon said, as Kim's next contraction started and it was too late for Trini to move back over to Kim's side. As she pushed, like Tanya had instructed, she felt the pain increase, and Tommy felt the grip on his hand become more solid with each passing second. She had not yelled out, but Tommy could feel her muscles shaking and knew that some sort of vocal activity would soon ensue.

"Kim, keep pushing. I know it hurts, but you have to keep pushing," Tanya said, as the nurse encouraged Kim, while the only person Kim was concentrating on was Tommy and how he had yet to break contact with her skin. She knew that he did not know what to say, but his reassuring presence was enough to keep her pushing, although it was more painful than anything else she had ever experienced. "Wait till the next one, Kim, but it looks like you were able to move the baby."

"Thank God," Kim muttered, as Tommy watched Trini sneak a camera out of her pocket. Kim had one in her suitcase, but he knew that it would be fine for Trini to take the pictures and bring them to them later, as that was the furthest from her mind right now. Tommy felt the grip on his hand tighten and he knew the next contraction had started.

"Kim, the baby's head is almost there, don't quit on me now," Tanya said, as Kim let out a quiet moan as she felt the baby's head pushing against the final barrier of it getting out. She placed her head on Tommy's arm, in an attempt to keep the tears from leaking out, as the pain was surging through her body. "Come on, two more good pushes should do it."

"Oh," Kim moaned as she felt the baby slip through the birth canal and into Tanya's awaiting hands. Tommy immediately gave her a hug and a kiss, before Tanya looked up at him with a smile. He was so proud of her and he could care less that they were going to have to suit up for the last time soon, their baby was all right and Kim was fine, although she was exhausted from a night of no sleep and the pain of the contractions.

"Tommy, do you want to cut the cord?" Tanya asked, as she suctioned all of the fluid from the baby's nose and mouth.

"I can?" Tommy asked, as Trini and Tanya tried not to laugh at Tommy's lapse in thought, as it seemed that he had gotten back to his normal forgetfulness very quickly.

"Yes, you can if you want to Tommy," Tanya said, holding out a set of scissors for Tommy to grab and then he cut the cord and the nurses took the baby over to be checked, after it briefly laid on Kim's chest.

"Is it a girl or a boy, Tommy?" Kim asked, as he carried the baby over to her and failed to notice that Trini was taking pictures, as he carefully kissed the baby on the forehead before placing her in Kim's arms.

"It's a girl," Tommy said, giving his wife a kiss on the forehead and wiping away her happy tears. "You don't mind if I take her out to meet our friends, do you?"

"Are we going to keep the name we decided on?" Kim asked, as she carefully handed the baby back over to Tommy. She had all the time in the world to bond, right now all she wanted to do was to get some rest for the moment and she could tell that he had picked up on that.

"Yeah, I don't think we could have done a better job with that," Tommy said, looking down and watched their baby girl reveal a set of deep brown eyes as she looked at her father for the first time and stole his heart in a way that only his child could.

AN: That's the end of this chapter and I know that there is more that has to go into this chapter, but I don't feel like I can make a chapter any longer than a few thousand words, so the next one is more like a continuation and I am sorry if you think that this chapter is too long, but I had a lot that I had to fit in, in one chapter. Please review this chapter, I just want to know if I should keep this story going.


	7. I Proudly Present

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, and Mallory Wiggins. 

**Rae:** Thank you so much for the review and I just needed some motivation to keep on going with this story.

**margieboots:** Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Morgan2:** Thank you. I just needed the additional motivation.

**dixie-girl:**Thanks and you don't really have to worry about it.

**Warstock-Leohart:** It seems as if it will all be good, but it never stays that way for very long where the rangers are concerned.

Now, on with the Story!

_Jason's POV_

Billy and Hayley walked into the waiting room a few minutes ago and she looks thoroughly exhausted, but that was to be expected after everything she has been through tonight. I found out from Billy that she was called over to the command centerat about nine o'clock by Alpha and she only got to leave at about one o'clock this morning, after three hours of battle and one hour of repair work on the rangers powers and tools.

I know that Billy did that several nights for all of us when we were teenagers, but I really cannot believe that he was somehow able to make it to school the next day and actually be able to stay awake during all of the classes he had to take. They are both amazing people to be able to do that and not complain, although I have caught Billy in a bad mood once or twice after one of those nights and it is not a pretty sight to see him like that.

Billy did say that the damage was at a minimum for most of the weapons that they have at their disposal, but some of the damage was startling to find in the first place. The rangers seemed the have suffered severe malfunctions in their power boosters, except for Tommy and the only way that they could determine that the others had, had a malfunction was because he had used one before this battle and his seemed to have worked flawlessly compared to theirs.

He knew when to push his power booster and when to use his regular powers. They did not. They have a set of instructions to give the newer rangers, but that may still be several hours away, as they are all asleep now, which is what I expected to happen as soon as they came in. I can remember being that tired as well and I'm starting to feel my body beg me to get some sleep, but I just can't. I'm too worried about other things, namely whether Kim will be able to deliver this baby on her own.

"James, why did you come back so soon? Is something wrong?" Martha asked, as he sat down next to his wife, still fully trying to digest everything that his son had told him.

He had really suspected all of it, but to know everything that he did now scared him out of his wits and he truly could say that he had not felt like this very often in his life. He could look around the room and determine who had probably had to fight tonight, now that he knew the truth. They were just kids, as his own son had been only a few years ago when he had began his tour of duty as a ranger.

He had never imagined that his son had been responsible for so many things and now that he knew it, he could understand why he grew up so much after they moved to Angel Grove. He had to, or he would not have been able to fulfill the duty that he had promised he would do. It also explained why it had hurt him so much to lose Kim; now he could see that she was the person that had taken care of him out there and that was how they wanted it to be. After she left, Kat's care just didn't match up, although she did try her best to look out for him. They could tell he was much more tired after she left him to go onto better things, but it still was not enough to make them ask if he was a ranger. They both respected that he might need to keep that private.

"Trini came to get Tommy. She said that Kim will begin pushing soon," James said as several of the people in the waiting room jerked their heads toward him so quickly that he was afraid some would soon be suffering from whiplash in the morning.

This was what the doctors had been afraid of and they knew that they now had a cause to really worry about something other than Mesogogg. Tommy was not going to leave to give them any sort of update, so they would not know if they took her to have a C-section or not. They could only pray that did not happen and with any sort of luck, it wouldn't. They were being greedy, but they needed her to be in her best condition because they never knew when they were going to have to go back out to fight.

"So, we think she'll be able to deliver the baby on her own? They won't have to do a C-Section?" Martha asked, as Jason sat down on the other side of Mr. Oliver, wondering what had caused the look to appear on his face, as he had given all of them the look of utmost respect and sympathy when he walked in the room.

If he had not known any better he would have thought that Tommy told him everything, but that just didn't seem to make sense. Tommy had always been able to keep the secret without much effort but he was going through conditions that were abnormal. Jason didn't think that Tommy really would tell anyone right now, but things were going to get desperate, eventually, and he was going to have to open up to some people in hopes of finding some one that could help them. They needed the help, in order to be able to stop the evil forever and allow them to go on about life as normally as possible, which was always hard for rangers to do for a long time.

"We know that she is going to try, nothing more nothing less," James said, as Jason stood up and began pacing around the waiting room, as Rocky and Billy began murmuring things between each other.

Most of the other rangers had gone to sleep, knowing that it might be hours before they knew anything, but the two of them could start coming up with a Plan B if Kim did have to have a C-section, as Tommy was not going to think about it at all. He was going to be thinking about her and nothing else. He probably wouldn't leave her if that happened and they were not sure that they could go into a battle without the two of them there to help them. They knew that they could hold Mesogogg off without the two of them being there, but they were not sure that they would be able to defeat him without all of their resources.

_Rocky's POV_

It's been about two hours since Mr. Oliver told us that Kim had started pushing and I just don't like the way all of this feels to me. I know that it takes some mothers a long time to push the baby out, but with the other problems that they are expecting I don't like it, at all. I don't believe that they would keep her pushing for a long time if it seemed like she wouldn't be able to have the baby, but I'm not sure if Kim and Tommy would be ready to consent to a C-section.

Tommy hasn't come to give us an update, which does not exactly make me think that things are going well back there and the plan that Billy and I made is not exactly the best one in the world. All we know is that if the two of them can't fight, all of the other retirees will have to pull much more weight than we expected. When the two of them are able to fight, we can trust that they will keep some of the creatures occupied for long enough for us to make a break if something of that nature is needed. The new rangers are good in so many areas, but they lack some of the experience and knowledge that we use in our fights against these creatures. We are no longer the strongest, but we can at least use our brains to try to get the monsters to do stupid things.

Also, we've been warned by Billy that we need to have ourselves prepared to battle within the next month or so, if not sooner. Mesogogg wants to push the advantage with Kim and Tommy being out of commission and that could mean all of us coming back in much sooner than we really want to.

I thought that the second Mesogogg found out she was pregnant he would have started attacking, but he just seems to not have a clue about anything. It seems that his plan has nothing to do with whether or not there was a ranger out of the way. I honestly cannot figure out what it has to do with, but with him acting like a lunatic, things are bound to be horrible on all of us no matter what we try to do.

I'm really just glad that Ally was not awake to hear what Billy had to say, as she would not happy about it at all. She doesn't want me to go out there, although she will not say those words to me, out of respect, I guess. We all knew that we were living on borrowed time ever since Mesogogg appeared from that damned island, which is not a comforting thing, but hopefully this will soon come to an end. Then, we can all try to lead normal lives, although that never seems to completely fit into the plans for a ranger, it always seems that there will be just one more hurdle we have to deal with before we can truly say that we are retired from this business. There are so many other rangers out there, but most of them have no powers at their disposal due to some of the last battles that they dealt with. We, however, have those powers and that is what enables us to come back and fight every time that we are needed.

"Hey, guys. I have someone I want you to meet," Tommy said, pushing the waiting room door open with his back as he carefully cradled his little baby girl in his arms. The warm little bundle in his arms had nestled closer to him as he walked down the hall and he loved how it felt to hold her. He didn't know that he was capable of feeling this way about someone that he had only met minutes before, but it worked wonders for his stressed soul to see someone who didn't know what they had been brought into and was just at peace with the world.

She had quickly gone to sleep and was a surprisingly calm baby, which was a blessing for the two of them, as they would have enough sleepless nights because of other things that were happening around them. They really didn't need for her to be a fussy baby, although there were bound to be some nights when she had her moments. The worries that he had, had about Kim's power affecting her were washed down the drain when he saw that she was a normal, healthy baby, according to the doctors. They didn't know to look for anything odd and they didn't find anything odd, which was a relief to Tommy and Kim, although they didn't say anything to them about it. There was no need, as they didn't have the right to know about her being a ranger and they both knew that the hospital staff would ask if they acted odd about her being normal.

"Tommy, you know that you don't need to play with us like that," Jason said as he turned around and saw the blanketed baby squirming in his best friend's arms. He quickly got out of his seat to get a better view, although Tommy's parents beat him to his side. How? He didn't know, but he just knew that they wanted to see that their grandchild was alright. They had been just as worried as Tommy was about the baby being alright and they were just as thankful that everything seemed to have turned out fine. Jason and the others could only pray that everything had turned out fine for Kim as well, though.

"Oh, Tommy, the baby looks so much like Kim," Martha said, stroking the baby's hair, as Tommy smiled a smile that only a new father could smile while looking at his child. He was in love, with his little baby girl and everyone in the room knew that very well. It did help that she looked like Kim, but there were also some things that they could tell came straight from Tommy.

"Yeah, she does," Tommy said, as a few of the female rangers squealed with delight that they had another girl joining their ranks, even if she was only a few minutes old and would probably never fight in a single battle if Tommy had it his way. His little girl would be protected from all of the dangers that Kim and he had, had to face over the years, even if it meant that they were to be rangers until they died. There was just no way that she would ever deal with it, even if she really wanted to be a ranger, which he doubted as he was not going to deliberately tell his daughter about all of the crazy things that her parents had done. He really didn't want to have to deal with the questions that would come from that conversation, even if it would make him feel less guilty if she did know about what they did. "All six pounds and ten ounces of her."

"Got your eyes though, didn't she?" James asked, as the little girl opened her eyes and looked up at Tommy before closing them again with a little sigh.

"Yeah she did," Tommy said with a smile, before he truly looked out at his friends.

They all seemed relieved that the baby was finally there and that they didn't have to worry about Mesogogg harming the baby directly through Kim anymore, now they had to worry about Mesogogg harming just one or the other, and Tommy was damn determined that wouldn't happen. Mesogogg had to know that, although he seemed to be rather ignorant about all of the things that were going on lately. If he was stupid enough to go after either of them, then Tommy was going to call them all back, which was something that they understood. He couldn't deal with losing either of them, no matter what had happened in the past with him and Kim.

"What's her name, Tommy?" Aisha asked, as Zack had maneuvered her in front of him, so she could get a better view of the baby. She was a beautiful little baby, with her light brown hair and those dark brown eyes and that little pink complexion that she had; they had all fallen in love, already, with the first little ranger baby. That, however, was to be expected from them, even if they didn't want to admit it to anyone else that knew them.

"Angela Elizabeth Oliver, but we're just going to call her Angie. Neither one of us is too fond of being called by our full name. All of you know that," Tommy said with a laugh, as Aisha reached out to touch her cheek and was surprised when she opened her eyes, to stare up at all of them. Then she looked back at her daddy, wondering who all these strange people were and why they were looking at her.

"Oops," Aisha said, as she watched the baby's face cringe, before her eyes rested on a somewhat familiar face. None of them really wanted to deal with an upset baby tonight, but they were sure that Kim and Tommy would be dealing with that enough as is. They just hoped that these next few days would be calm for Kim and Tommy, as they knew that if things picked up after she was out of the hospital that they would be able to deal with it better.

"It's alright, Angie. These are just mommy and daddy's friends," Tommy whispered as the little girl continued to stare at everything that she could see, before closing her eyes again and snuggling closer, to be able to hear Tommy's heartbeat. He smiled down at her, as he felt a new found warmth rise in his heart. He thought that he loved Kim with everything he had, but he found that he loved this little girl just as much as his wife.

"So, how's Kim doing?" Jason asked, as he knew that some of the younger rangers were dying to know the answer to that question and he had to admit that he was as well. If she wasn't doing so great; then they might have a cause to worry instead of celebrate, but Tommy being out there let them know that most things were alright. He would not have left her if things were not going well after her having the baby. They all knew that about him.

"She's tired and will probably be a little bit sore for the next few days, but other than that she's fine, no C-section. She'll be getting out of the hospital in a few days and she'll be able to go back to normal activities in about two weeks, give or take a few days on that one," Tommy said with a smile, as he heard the collective sigh of relief exit almost everyone in the group.

It did not surprise him that they had reacted like this, although he had thought that they might not be that bad, although there were some things he didn't know. Like the fact that they had already been trying to think of other people that could help them, if they two of them were held out of duty for longer than expected. They could not risk being unprepared for something like that and they all hoped that it would be easy for Kim to come back to the action after not being able to work out for so long. If it wasn't then they might still have to worry, but she had always bounced back from pains rather quickly and they hoped that it would be the same this time.

"Thank God," Billy said, as some of the other rangers gave him an odd look before deciding it was just best to ignore what he said and let it go like it was normal. They didn't really want to risk saying anything while Tommy's parents were there. They couldn't and they all knew that it was just the stress that had caused that small outburst from the usually calm genius.

"So, when will we be able to see her?" Adam asked, as they heard the baby let out a tiny cry and they knew Tommy would be leaving soon. He didn't have the energy to deal with a fussy baby and they were sure that tonight's battle would eventually take hold of his body and that he would have to force himself to sleep. That was not something that he wanted to do, but he couldn't help but need some sleep after being called out of bed.

"I'd give her the rest of the night to rest up some more before you come see her, unless she requests people, which I already have some orders to carry out on that front. Mom, Dad, she wants the two of you to come back there and Jason, here's the keys to our house. Everyone can go back there for the rest of the night and then you can drive up here tomorrow if you want," Tommy said, as he passed his keys to Jason.

"Is Trini staying?" Jason asked, as Tommy couldn't help but laugh at the question.

"No, she's going home with you," Tommy said, as Angie let out a slightly louder cry, which signaled to him that he better head back to Kim's room, before she got too fussy. He was sure that he would be able to deal with her when she was fussy, but not now when he had so little patience left inside of him. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yeah, you can count on that one. I'll be bringing breakfast," Jason said, as Tommy turned to exit the waiting room, with his parents following close behind him. Jason and the others turned to leave the waiting room, knowing that they needed the rest and that they would be able to see Kim later on in the morning.

"She really is alright, Tommy?" Martha asked, as he looked over at his mother and nodded.

"Listen, Dad, about what we were talking about. We have a plan, however crazy it may be, but you can't say anything to anyone until we get rid of this monster. It's just too dangerous right now," Tommy said, as his mother gave him a confused look, but his father just nodded his head that he understood what he was saying. He knew that his wife was confused but there was not much that he could do to clear up the situation right now.

"Hey, I know. Don't worry. I wasn't planning on putting that grandbaby of mine in any more danger than she is already in," James said, as Tommy gave him a happy smile. He knew that his dad meant it and his mother could just deal without knowing the little secret for a few more months, as he was not sure that she wouldn't faint when she heard the news.

"Tommy," Kim said quietly as he walked into the room and headed straight for her, so she could hold and feed Angie. He knew that he had been anxious to show their friends that the baby was alright and he hoped Kim was fine with that, although he was sure that she would have given him an earful if she hadn't liked his idea. "She alright?"

"Yeah, just a little bit fussy," Tommy said, as he gave her a tight hug before looking down at his wife and baby carefully, as he felt the tiredness sinking into his own body. He had not truly felt that he had been in a battle until now and all he really wanted to do was crawl into bed next to her and go to sleep, with her in his arms. He was not sure that the hospital staff would approve of that, although he knew that it would make both of them much more comfortable in this place.

"You don't look so great yourself, Handsome. That bruise on your shoulder looks pretty painful. You need to find some ice for it," Kim said with a weak smile, as she went to feed the baby, not caring who was in the room.

The nurse was still there to help her get the hang of all of this, but she could tell that Tommy wanted to get it to where it was just the two of them, so they could talk about some things that no one else needed to hear about. There were issues about the battle that she needed to be informed of, no matter how stupid it might seem that they talk about it at a time like this one. She would soon be back out there and she needed to know about any new developments that came up.

"I know, but it's all worth it. The two of you are safe. The bruise will go away with time," Tommy said with a smile, as he sat down in a chair that was next to the bed. That chair had been so comfortable over the past few hours, but now his back was killing him from sitting in that position for a long time. He wished that he could stretch it out, but there seemed to be no way for him to do that, no matter what anyone else said as he didn't exactly trust the staff to take care of them the way that he would.

"So, are you really alright, Kim?" James asked, as he knew that the girl could put up a good strong façade for all of them, as she had dealt with the monsters as a teenager. The only sign that she was hurting was that she would fall asleep in their son's arms on the couch within ten minutes of arriving at their home on a school night.

It all made perfect sense to him now, but back then, it had sure been odd to see it happen when they were supposed to have loads of energy. They never had really questioned them about it, although it was something that they would have liked to do, as they did, constantly, wonder about why they were so tired. It, however, became normal and that was what led them to believe that they just worked out particularly hard at the Youth Center, everyday of the week and the weekends as well. It also kept them from looking at the truth, which was something that they did not want to see as no parent wants their child to be in danger, for any reason.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just worn out, but she was worth it," Kim said, as the nurse took the baby and placed her in the crib, before pushing it towards the door. Kim had thought that the baby was going to stay with them overnight, as Tanya was bound to know everything that had happened tonight and what that meant for the two of them and their child. All three of them were in more danger now than they had been in a few hours before and neither of the adults was willing to let anything happen to Angie. That also meant that if it was necessary Tommy would leave Kim and hope that nothing happened to her. "What are you doing?"

"Angie is supposed to go to the nursery for the night and then she can be brought back in here in the morning. Standard hospital procedure, Mrs. Oliver," Sharon said, as Kim and Tommy both paled, before Tommy stood up to go find Tanya.

She would understand why the baby needed to stay with them, as it was the best for them and they were the only ones that could really protect the baby from any harm. He might have to put more things at risk, but Angie was not one thing he was willing to put at risk and he knew that Kim agreed with him on that particular choice.

"Where's he going?" Martha asked, as she sat down in the chair that Tommy had vacated and noticed that Kim was not really paying attention to anything she had said. She was still looking at the door that Tommy had gone out of a few seconds before and she seemed to know exactly what he was going to be doing, although that did not make her anymore comfortable with the idea. She knew that Tommy was going to try to talk some sense into Tanya, but she also knew that he would be risking a lot of information in order to do that. "Kim…"

"I don't know, but I do have an idea what he is going to have to say to someone," Kim said, as Sharon had stopped rolling the baby towards the nursery.

"Listen, I can go ask Dr. Jackson if she thinks that it will be alright for her to stay in here with you for the remainder of your stay, but I highly doubt that she will allow it. It is hospital policy for the baby to stay in the nursery and it takes a very persuasive reason to allow the child out of the nursery," Sharon said, as she could tell that something was disturbing them.

They weren't your ordinary couple, she could tell that much by the way they seemed to have a heightened sense of awareness of the things and people that were around them. There were little things that could make them jump, but they both seemed more than capable to take care of anything that came at them, although she could not tell why they would be worried about something coming after them.

They were nice people and that just didn't make any sense to her at all. It didn't look like they lived a life of crime, so the heightened awareness was just eerie to be around, as there was no logical explanation for it at all. At least, there was not a logical explanation that anyone would think of without knowing about their other life, which held the key to many things that they did.

"He'll find her and he'll tell her everything that she has to know. Don't worry about it," Kim said, as everyone in the room gave her a confused look before deciding it was best to ignore what she had said, as the tiredness was probably getting to her.

James knew exactly what she was talking about, but no one else in the room did and he was not crazy enough to try to help cover up the slip up. If he did that then he would have to explain a lot more than he needed to, to too many people and that would certainly make Tommy mad at him. His son had entrusted him with information that might get him killed if the wrong people knew about it and he honestly did not plan to break that trust. Not when it had taken Tommy ten years to tell him the truth of what was going on when he was in high school.

"Tanya," Tommy said, walking up to the doctors station and seeing her standing there, looking over some other patient's chart.

It was a busy night and early morning for her, but she was used to it, as she had two or three nights like this a week, on a bad week and this had happened to be a bad week in her books. Many of her patients had come in several weeks earlier than their projected due date and it was hard to explain it to the other doctors as she was being run ragged by the influx of patients, especially tonight.

"What's up, Tommy? You look like something is bothering you. Nothing has happened to Kim, right?" Tanya asked, as she started walking towards one of her patient's rooms, which happened to be in the opposite direction of Kim's room. She had thought this woman would be able to deliver the baby easily, but she was having more trouble than Kim had, had, which did surprise Tanya a good bit. She had honestly thought that Kim was probably going to have to have a C-section, but it seemed that she had been wrong and she was glad that she was wrong in that case.

"Something is bothering me, but it's not Kim. I know that you have heard of Mesogogg, Tanya," Tommy muttered as the doctor stopped dead in her tracks as she had those words muttered in her ear.

She had a feeling that Tommy was about to head into uncharted waters with this conversation, but she could understand why he would do that at a time like this. The creature had been gone for months and he was just barely making his presence known now, on the night that Kim went into labor, which she just hoped was an eerie coincidence. If it was not then she might panic herself. She had been out of the ranger game so long that she didn't want to have to deal with the possibility of an attack on the hospital because of one child being born to ranger parents.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with you? You retired years ago, remember?" Tanya said, looking at Tommy, knowing that it was probably not true, but in order to do anything she had to be told all of it by him or Kim. At this point, it looked like it was going to be him, due to the fact that Kim was hardly able to keep herself awake now or so she imagined. Kim had to be exhausted after pushing as long as she did and Tommy looked to be tired although he had something that obviously needed to be addressed. "This monster has nothing to do with you. You aren't a ranger and neither is Kim, you know that."

"I was retired and so was Kim, but thing's have changed over the last couple of years Tanya. We're both back in the game. I almost got killed while working with Anton Mercer a couple of years ago and trust me, this monster has everything to do with the two of us," Tommy said, stopping Tanya from walking anywhere else, as he really didn't feel comfortable having this conversation where he was having it, but he had no choice. She had to know or some horrible things might happen and they were things that Tommy would not ever let her live down if they did happen. "Please clear it for Angie to stay with me and Kim. He has come after Kim before and I know that he will be willing to come after Angie as well. He does not care who he hurts, as long as he gets his way."

"Are you crazy?" Tanya asked at a tone that was close to a yell, but she brought it down quickly as she knew the next part might really get Kim or Tommy killed if others knew about it, others who might be against all of the rangers. It was one thing to confide something like this in a former ranger, but it was another thing to publicize it all over the hospital. That would surely make Zordon turn over in his grave if she did something like that to Tommy or any other rangers when they were asking for her help. She also got the feeling that Tommy was only doing this because he truly thought that it was a threat to the two of them. "Mesogogg could come after her with the two of you so close by. She'd be safer in the nursery, where we will be able to watch her and control who comes in and out. Trust me, Tommy, I know what I am talking about here."

"He could come after her while she was in the nursery as well, Tanya. Listen, we're the only people here that can stop the damn monster and if you don't let the baby stay with us, we could very well be dealing with a kid napped child tomorrow. If that happens, I don't know what I would do to try to get her back. I also promise you, Kim would be walking out of the hospital and going to morph the second that she heard something like that had happened. I know you don't want her to do that right now, but if things happen, she will. You know her well enough to know that," Tommy said, knowing that he was going to have to startle her into understanding all of it.

Mesogogg had already taken Kim once and he was sure that he would be more than willingly to take Angie if he got the chance to do so and Angie couldn't fight back. He just had to manage to make that clear to Tanya and he just hoped he could get his point across quickly. There were minutes passing where his child was with people that didn't know about the extra danger the child was in and he wanted to keep that time to a minimum. It might be hard for people to understand without knowing the full truth, but for the two of them telling the truth to everyone might get them killed and he knew Tanya knew that or at the least remembered what it was like.

"You know that they couldn't just drop into the nursery and take her right back out. There are too many nurses there that could see it happen. They'd stop it from happening, Tommy," Tanya said, as Tommy looked at her, wondering how much he was going to have to reveal to her tonight. He didn't want to have to tell her everything that he knew, but he very well might have to do that to convince her that this was the right move to make in order to keep all of them as safe as they could from Mesogogg.

"That's the problem, they might not just drop in. We know that he has three informants, but he could have gotten more while he gave us that nice, little, break over these last few months. I don't want to take this risk. I don't want to risk my baby, Tanya," Tommy whispered, as a few doctors walked by and gave them curious glances before continuing on their way.

They could tell that they knew each other, but they did not like the way that the conversation looked to be going. The man seemed to be mad at their co-worker, but she gave them a look that told them not to step into help her. She could handle this and she also knew that Tommy would really go off on them if they tried to ask any prying questions that he could not answer.

"Tommy, be reasonable. He would not have gotten a nurse as an informant; they could give him nothing that would be helpful to his overall plan. That is just crazy and pretty stupid if you ask me," Tanya said, as Tommy leaned his head back and then looked Tanya in the eyes.

She asked for it. He really didn't want to tell her everything but now, he had no choice. She was not going to believe a bit of it until she learned the full truth about everything that had happened to cause Anton Mercer to become Mesogogg and thus go after the people that had the dino gems in their possession. Those people happened to live in Reefside and he happened to be one of the only people that knew the whole story about how Mercer had achieved this change, although he was not going to tell all of it to Tanya.

"He's a human himself, Tanya and so are all of his informants or at least they were at one time. Please, trust me on this one. I know what I am talking about and if you won't let her stay with us, then I'm going to sit outside the nursery all night and pray that he doesn't drop in, in Kim's room and take her away from us. She could hold him off for a little while, but not like she used to. I can't lose either of them, Tanya. Don't you see that? Don't you see that I am the only one that can protect them?" Tommy whispered and then they went silent for a few minutes.

She knew that she was going to have to do what Tommy asked, because Angie and Kim were really in danger, but she just had to figure out a way to make it as inconspicuous as possible. Tanya knew that what Tommy was saying was true, it had to be, otherwise he would not have bothered to tell her any of it. The problem was that they were not going to be able to do this without raising some suspicion, although they did not care about anything being suspicious to anyone. They just had to keep Angie safe, and she knew that was the most important thing to them right now. The hard part would be convincing any other doctors that asked that it was best, as they did not know where Tommy was coming from and would not even understand it if he did attempt to tell them about it. They would probably suggest the he be sent to the Psyche Ward and then Tanya would have to do some crazy things to get him out of there which would not look good for her.

"Okay, Tommy, but I have to be the one to tell the nurse to take the baby back to your room. Let her take the baby to the nursery for a little while and then I'll tell them about my decision. I know that you don't want for her to be gone even that long, but I have to cover some bases to keep them from asking you too many questions. I know that the two of you cannot afford to arouse suspicion, so let me cover this the best that I can," Tanya said, as he shook his head that he understood and then turned to go back to Kim's room. He needed to be with her tonight, so the two of them could try to get their brains to accept everything that was going on around them. It was a lot to take at once, but they would somehow get themselves to understand it, even if it did take longer than normal. "Hey, tell me if you need any help."

"I will," Tommy said with a smile before he continued on his way.

"What did you have to do that was so important?" Martha asked, as Tommy looked over at her and thought about how he was going to word his answer.

He knew that the majority of the people in the room knew what was going on, but his mother was not one of them and he could not afford to tell her, due to the fact that she might break down in a matter of seconds. He could tell it was eating at his father, knowing the danger that his grandchild was in, but he knew the risks of telling anyone and he wouldn't do that to them now.

"Trying to keep Angie with us," Tommy said, as he seemed to have caught Kim's attention, as she had only barely managed to keep up small talk with the two of them while he was gone. She was distracted and seemed worried, although that did not seem odd, as most mothers don't like being separated from their children, at all.

"What did they say, son?" James asked, as he was curious to find out the answer to that one as well. He understood, now, why Angie had to stay with them, but he could only hope that the hospital staff would understand it and not ask too many questions of Tommy and Kim. They didn't need to spend their energy answering questions that they would have to flat-out lie about.

"Tanya's going to work on it. She should be back with us in a few minutes," Tommy said with a smile, as his father got the idea that Tommy had quite a few things that he needed to talk with only his wife about. He would never bluntly ask them to leave, but there were times when he knew that was what his son needed the most and this was one of those times.

"Well, we're going to let the two of you get some rest and we'll come up here sometime tomorrow. Try to get some rest Tommy, you look like you need it," James said, as Martha looked up at him questioningly. They seemed to have some secret that was going on between the two of them and she did not know if she wanted to ask them about it, not right now at least. If she did, she might get an answer that scared her more than anything else that she had ever known.

"Bye," Tommy said with a smile as he stood up to hug both of them. He didn't see them as often as he would like, but when he did, he gave them as much affection as he felt that he could. He knew that life was much too short for him to not let the people that he loved know that he cared about them.

"Tommy, you need to rest," Kim said quietly as he looked at her like she had lost her mind. He should be saying something like that to her, not the other way around, but he knew how true that statement was. He was tired and his body was hurting him right now from the blows that had been dealt to him, but that was not what he was concentrating on at all. The two of them needed to be protected and there was no guarantee that he would wake up if he went to sleep. So, he planned to stay up tonight, even if she didn't want him to do that. "Tanya will bring her in, in a little while. You need to rest, you've go lots of things that will be taking away your sleep later on."

"Beautiful, don't worry about me, you rest. I'll have plenty of time to do that once we get back home," Tommy said, as she shook her head and then looked towards the door as it started to open.

"I have someone here to see you," Tanya said with a smile, as she wheeled Angie's crib into the room. She immediately saw the relief flood into Tommy's eyes as he saw that she was safe and she merely saw Kim shake her head towards Tommy, before leaning her bed back to a sleeping position. She needed to sleep, just as much as he did, although he was not listening to her at all and Tanya doubted that he would listen to her either. Once he decided that he was or was not going to do something, it was rare that people talked him out of it. "Now, before I can really leave you I have some things that I need to know."

"Tanya, I've told you everything that I can about all of that. I can't risk anymore until Mesogogg is gone," Tommy said, as Kim looked over at him rather sharply before she decided to not question his judgement. He had done what he had to do to get Angie to stay with them, even though that meant that he had to tell Tanya everything and risk a lot of people accidentally finding out about them being rangers.

"I don't want to talk about the details right now, Tommy. There are just a few things that I need to know before I can consent to some things as a doctor and as your friend," Tanya said, as Tommy looked over at her, wondering if he was going to have to do something drastic to get her to really understand all of this. He had already been rather bold about what he had told her, he didn't know if he had the gumption to say any more, especially about some of the things that he knew Alpha and Hayley had been working on.

"Go ahead," Tommy said, as he noticed Kim staring over at Angie. She seemed to want to have her in her arms right then and with what was about to be said; he didn't blame her one bit as he carried the sleeping Angie over to her. She was scared to have to deal with it and usually Tommy would wrap both of his arms around her while they dealt with this, but she wanted to shield Angie, just in case things got out of hand.

"Listen, I know that you risked a lot to tell me that much, but Tommy why were you brought back into the action? I thought that once we retired that we really were out of it for good," Tanya said, as Kim just shook her head while she watched Tommy fight back laughing, although it was most inappropriate.

"Well, we all thought that, but Zordon had other ideas…how do I put this?" Tommy asked, as he thought for a few seconds on how to best introduce when they had come out of retirement, the first time. It was not as if it was well known among the other rangers, which made it hard to explain why Zordon choose the nine of them to do what they did in the first place. "He asked the first nine rangers to take on a mission after he was gone. He knew that he was going to be leaving us and we all know what that means, he was trying to say his final good-byes to everyone that needed to hear them. Tanya, he asked us to defeat an evil with powers that he had waiting for us when the time came and we did. That was when we first came out of retirement and since then, it seems that there has been a constant battle around us."

"You were the rangers that did that?" Tanya asked, as she could vividly remember the television broadcasts that showed those rangers, although she could not believe that was them and she could not believe that it took them such a short time to defeat their enemy. Sure, the white ranger had acted like Tommy and the green ranger like Rocky, but it just didn't make any sense to her until now. "Oh my goodness."

"Yeah, hard to believe isn't it?" Kim asked with a smile and then she yawned as Tommy and Tanya exchanged a look. She needed to rest, that much was certain, they would have the next few days to catch up on the things like that, as she knew how real it all was for the two of them.

"That is what…they got you back together?" Tanya asked, as she had to admit that she wondered about how that happened. It didn't seem like Kim and Tommy would just bump into each other at random, from across country.

She had only heard things for a very long time and then when she saw how Tommy reacted when Kim was captured, she knew the truth. Everyone did. The only problem was no one would admit that they knew what was best, when it would break another person's heart, although Kat was the one that let Tommy know that she would never be right for him. That had helped him a lot but it did not help him as much as they had hoped that it would. He didn't go after her as they had hoped and he was still fairly miserable until he finally was forced to talk to her.

"Yeah, they did," Tommy said, as he noticed that Kim was starting to doze off, not that he blamed her at all for that one. She had the right to be exhausted and he was surprised that she had even stayed awake as long as she had managed to over the last few hours.

"I guess I better be going, but my offer still stands if you ever need me," Tanya said, as she saw Kim was asleep and that Angie had settled herself against Kim rather quickly. That made it a little bit easier for Tommy, as he would only have to watch one area of the room and he might even decide that he needed to get some rest as well. "Get some rest Tommy, a nurse will come check on you every hour."

"Alright, but you know that is nearly impossible for me to do," Tommy said, as Tanya left and he could not help but to stare at his wife and baby.

They both looked so peaceful right now, but he knew that it might be the last time that they were sleeping so well, so unassumingly. He knew the risks and so did his wife, but they were both happy right now and tired to boot. He was going to get some rest and then he had to face the next day, not knowing what might be in store for them.

AN: That's all for this chapter, I know that it is a lot shorter than the last one, but I hope that you enjoy it anyway.


	8. Hospital Visit

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Sharon.

**forevercrane:** Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it and I hope that this chapter will work well for you.

To anyone else who reviewed the last chapter, thank you. I did not forget you!

_Now, on with the Story!_

"Good morning every body. Rise and shine," Tanya said with a smile as she entered Kim's room early the next morning, having gotten only a few minutes of sleep as she had just had one mother deliver that had gotten to the hospital several hours before Kim. Kim was sitting up already and watching Tommy sleep, while he snored rather loudly, which was something Tanya had never heard or seen him do while he was in the hospital with anyone.

Tanya was fairly sure that he had stayed awake all night, like he had said that he would, in order to make sure Kim and Angie would be all right. He trusted that the hospital had a security system in place for normal circumstances, but she knew that his system was far better than theirs was and it probably always would be due to some of his training. It also did comfort her that he did that, due to the type of activity that would be involved if someone wanted to come after Kim. She had to admit that one, even if the rest of the hospital staff didn't agree or know about his, rather unorthodox, security system that was in place.

"Mornin'," Kim said brightly as Angie let out a small cry before Kim walked over to pick her up out of her crib, as Tommy had taken her out of her arms late last night. The night had been fairly quiet for the three of them, but it had not been for the rest of the hospital staff. "You look like you've had quite a night."

No matter how much some of the staff hated to admit it, they were glad that Tanya had made the decision to let little Angie Oliver stay in her parent's room. After the odd occurrences that had happened in various places in the hospital, they were surprised that they had not been sent to a room in the hospital that no one knew about.

The hospital advisors had considered it, but Tanya insisted that they stayed in the room they were in. She knew that if Tommy found out about the breech in security, then he would be likely to request that they leave early and she knew she needed to monitor Kim more. From what she knew there had never been another pregnant Power Ranger and she wanted to make sure that nothing happened as a result of that, but she didn't even know what symptoms that Kim might suffer from due to being a ranger.

"Same thing to you as well. Did Tommy sleep any last night? If he did, then I'm surprised that he isn't awake now," Tanya said, as she knew that Kim had slept. Kim could not have stayed awake, no matter how hard she tried to do that, having a baby just took too much out of a person, even if they did have powers.

Kim had only barely gotten to sleep before she woke up feeling her stomach cramp last night and she knew that Tommy could have only been gone for a few minutes before she called him home. The thing was, she had been tired from the day before, as they had had to work down in the Command Center a great deal, not that they broadcast that to everyone that they knew. They still had to keep some things secret, although Tommy had told a lot of people some information last night due to different situations that arose.

"I don't think so. He was worried about what Mesogogg might try to do, but I guess nothing happened in here or he would have woken me up," Kim said as Tommy opened his eyes to the bright sunshine and groaned at the day that greeted him. He had hoped that he would be able to sleep during the day, but that was just not happening with the fact that it was a bright and sunny day, which did fit his mood, in some ways and in some ways he wished that it would have been cloudy. It would have made him sleeping late come easier.

"I don't think that the two of you have to worry about anyone coming in your room. The nurses have probably checked on the two of you more than anyone else in this hospital," Tanya said.

She had not told any of the hospital staff what was going on, but she made sure they understood that these two people were to be given top priority. Mainly because, Tommy might go after someone if something happened to either of the other two in the room, especially if the hospital staff could have prevented it.

"That's good. Did you have a lot more patients here last night besides me?" Kim asked, as she had gotten the feeling that Tanya had been running between patients this morning and it was about to drive her crazy.

It was truly a wonder that she had gone into this profession, but it did work for her, in some ways and then there were the times that she couldn't understand why she decided to do this. It was absolutely wonderful to bring new lives into the world; day in and day out, but there were some things that suffered because of the odd hours that she had to work.

Her marriage to David Jackson had suffered as a direct result of her work schedule,especially over the last few months. His job was much more stable and he always worked from nine to five, but he was a great guy, despite some of the feelings that she had about him right now. She felt like she didn't know what love was, when she saw the way that her ranger colleagues acted when they were in love, but he would have to do. She had lost her chance at Rocky years ago.

"Yeah, but that also means that there were a lot of babies born last night. The two of you would have probably gotten a kick out of the woman that was worried that Mesogogg's battle would somehow affect the hospital and in an odd sort of way, it did. I couldn't tell her that, but she could have sworn that she had seen a Zord fly by and that a monster was going to hop in here at any time. I have never had to calm someone down because of that. It was actually pretty interesting," Tanya said, as Tommy looked over at her and gave her an odd look.

He was barely able to concentrate on anything, but he would be able to do that once he found something that did interest him and the word Mesogogg did that right now. He could have heard the word in passing and he still would have found a way to concentrate on what was said after it, even if that meant he had to stop walking. That was a word that he did not toss around lightly and he expected that most other people would not do the same thing, although this woman had. She obviously had no clue how close tothe truththat could have been, but Tommy was glad Tanya had kept that sort of information to herself.

"People shouldn't joke like that, though. One day this hospital might be attacked and I'd hate to know that some people wouldn't take him seriously until that happened," Tommy said, as he knew just how close of a call it had been for everyone in the hospital last night.

If Mesogogg had been determined, he would have followed them to the hospital last night and waited until they knew that Kim had had the baby and attacked, but it seemed that they were not going to try to do anything that was very obvious, which scared him. He didn't like the way that Mesogogg seemed to think and his thinking went along the lines of taking Angie and Kim hostage in order to lure him into battle. He didn't want that to happen because he would be worried about hurting either of them instead of defeating Mesogogg and his goons, although his anger would overshadow his rational side for a long time.

"They don't live the way we do, Handsome. Not many people can say that they ever have or ever will. You can't blame them for being casual about something that they do not understand," Kim said with a smile as she fed Angie while rocking back and forth on the bed, as sitting still bothered her after being told to sit still for so long. She also knew that she might as well work out the pain, even if it did bother her at the moment. "And I don't think that they would want to, not with the way that things go around our home. They would probably throw in the towel after the first week that they had a major problem occur and they found out that someone was pregnant or could die or anything of that nature. We're a special breed of people."

"I know, but it is unnerving to hear people talk about it like it is nothing. They don't take it seriously; they just assume that the Power Rangers will always be there, but we're normal people too, we have a life outside of being rangers. Things can happen to us that will make it to where we can't do anything either and I don't think many would want to step up and do this. Like you said, we're a special breed of people and there are fewer of us every day," Tommy said, as the door creaked open and the two of them looked over at the door, hoping that whoever it was had not heard them or if they had, they assumed that this was a conversation that did not need to be repeated.

"Dr. Jackson, we still have not been able to locate the woman that came into the nursery this morning, but she has not returned either. All of the children are fine," Sharon said, as Tommy gave Tanya a reproachful glare before looking over at the woman and hoping to hear some details. This situation certainly did not sound like it was a great thing, but it could have turned out much worse, if he was thinking about who this woman was probably after.

"Well, if you don't mind checking Angie here then I'll be on my way. I need to be on my way to visit another patient. I'll stop back by later on," Tanya said, as she knew that she did not want to have to answer the questions that were running through Tommy's mind right now. He seemed willing to pounce because of his lack of sleep and she did not want to be the one to bring his inner tiger out. She knew that she did not have the strength to fight him off and Kim might somehow have the common sense to do it, but she was not in the condition to either. She just hoped ignoring it would make it go away.

"Who came into the nursery?" Kim asked, out of curiosity as Sharon looked over Angie and carefully considered how to answer the question or if she should even answer it.

She didn't know if she should disclose the information to this couple, but they seemed to have been the possible target and the least that they could use was a warning. It, however, seemed to her that they knew they were in danger, only the danger she suspected right now was not something any normal person would go through. That was what really puzzled her.

"We are not really sure who it was, but the woman was looking for a baby, but she couldn't find the baby before we got there. We're not sure how she got in, but it does not make me comfortable. It was as if she just dropped into the nursery. I don't know how someone could do that unless they worked for Mesogogg or the Power Rangers," Sharon said, as she noticed the young couple exchange a glance before returning to normal looking parents. That glance, however, confirmed what she thought. They knew who it was and they suspected that the person had been after their child, without a question in their mind about it.

"Well, I'm glad that she was not able to find the baby," Tommy said, as he had a good idea of which baby the woman had been looking for and he was glad that he had fought to keep her with them. If not, he would have been in a horrible mood this morning or whenever Tanya had been brave enough to tell him what had happened.

"So are we, well visiting hours will be starting soon and I'm sure that your friends will be coming in at sometime. They seemed to want to see you last night, but you were too tired to be able to take that," Sharon said, as she handed Angie to Tommy, knowing that Kim was going to soon standup as she was scooting over to the edge of the bed, being as gentle as she could with her sore bottom.

"You still have part of your belly," Tommy said, gently, as Kim stood up and looked over at him with a look of shock that he would stay that.

She desperately wanted to change into some other clothes, as her hospital gown was covering nothing when she stood up and she was not willing for her friends to see her backside. She didn't really care if Tommy saw it, but her friends would not deal with it as well as he would. He was actually used to it now, but they were not used to seeing her in anything but something that completely covered her backside.

"I expected that, I just had her a few hours ago, Tommy. It will take a little while to undo the months of change," Kim said, as she dug out a t-shirt and a pair of Tommy's shorts from her suitcase, as well as some underwear.

He was surprised that she was that eager to put on something that resembled clothing, but he also knew that she would not be lying down again for quite awhile and this would be more comfortable for her and she would not have to worry about exposing anything. She would probably be walking laps in her room if they would let her get away with it, although he did want her to rest while she was here. She knew what was coming and she just wanted to prepare for it, even if that meant her doing some crazy things, but he wanted her to get the rest that she desperately needed.

"Don't think badly of yourself, Kim. You're beautiful and I love you no matter what," Tommy said as he walked over to guard the door while Kim changed into some other clothes.

"I know and I'll lose it eventually, considering the fact that I will have to start fighting again pretty soon. I need to be in some sort of shape for that," Kim said, as it was Tommy's turn to not like how that sounded.

He wanted her to be able to be a mother and not worry about her ranger duties, but this was something that had to be taken care of now. If they didn't take care of it now, it would just get worse as Angie grew older and they preferred that she not know about it at all. What she didn't know, would not hurt her and they wanted this to be one of those situations. It didn't need to affect her life the way that it had affected theirs.

"I don't want you to have to do that," Tommy said as he felt the door being pushed against his back and he turned around to see who was trying to enter the room. Kim was mostly changed, but he knew that she would not want anyone coming in until she was through, no matter who it was or what they wanted.

"Hey," Trini said, as Kim pulled up Tommy's shorts and quickly looked up to catch Tommy laughing at her. If it had been anyone else, she would not have hurried, but Kim wanted to see them, even if she didn't want to admit that to anyone. They had insight and they also had news that she needed to hear.

"Come on in. I'm changed now," Kim said with a smile, as they all walked in. Neither of them were surprised to see that they were all at the hospital this early in the morning.

Tommy knew that his parents would probably come up around lunch, to let him go get some real food for the two of them and to give him a chance to go home, which he was sure he was going to need to do. He needed to get a full report from Hayley and check to see if there was any new developments that he needed to be made aware of while he was still at the hospital. As much as he wanted to leave the ranger life behind for a little while, he knew that he needed to know everything that he could, so it would not hurt them. They had to be prepared, even if they didn't like the idea of it.

"We brought you something," Jason said, as he had a Hardee's bag held behind his back and he knew that the two of them were probably starving. Tanya had sent breakfast in there, but Kim had pushed away the tray and told the nurse she was not going to eat that. She just hoped that their friends would bring them something that was edible or she was going to have to go hungry.

"All I have to say, is that it better not have anything to do with rangers or I will strangle you, even if you are stronger than me," Kim said, as Jason held out the Hardee's bag and saw her eyes brighten at the sight of food. They had all suspected that the two of them would be hungry, but Kim's reaction was exactly what they had wanted to see. She wanted to think about good things and as long as they avoided touchy subjects, they would be fine and even some of the touchy subjects would now be tolerated, because of her happiness. "Thank you, Jason."

"It was no problem. You have to get your strength back and he has to get some rest sometime today. We need both of you," Jason said, as Tommy had fallen asleep with Angie in his arms and he saw Trini snap a quick picture.

They all knew that Tommy had to be exhausted, but with the way that Mesogogg had acted last night, they had doubted that he would be able to sleep at all, even when he got really tired. He had not slept well the night that Kim had been in the hospital while they were in high school and they were sure that he had not slept well last night either. It jut was not in him to change his ways.

"Let him sleep. It's no big deal, he needs the rest more than I do right now. He's worn out from that battle," Kim said, as they nodded their heads in agreement. Trini went to her purse, so that she could dig out some of the pictures that she had printed out on Tommy's computer this morning, knowing that Kim would want to see them. She had been surprised that they had turned out so well, but she only hoped that Kim would like them. If not, it was just going to be too bad, there was no turning back the clock to get more pictures. "Why did you come so early? I mean, it is a Saturday after all."

"Well, some of us have projects to work on later on today," Billy said with a smile and Kim nodded her head that she understood and then tried to concentrate on some other form of conversation, as Billy was skirting the ranger topic.

"The nurses also tried to convince us that it would be bad for you if more than two of us came in at a time, but we didn't listen to her. You know how we are about stuff like that," Jason said, as Trini handed the pictures over to Kim, who was looking at them in confusion, wondering why Trini had pictures for her to look at. She hadn't asked her to take any, although she wished that she would have now. She didn't have any pictures and that was something that she had not expected to admit to happening. It just was not in her nature to not take pictures. "Did little one sleep good last night?"

"Yeah, Jason. I'm glad about that, because I know that I wouldn't have been able to wake up and do anything last night. I was exhausted," Kim said with as smile as she looked at the pictures and realized whom they were of. They had figured that it would take her a little while to figure out who the pictures were of, but it would be worth it in the end. "Trini, when did you take these?"

"Last night. I knew that you would want some pictures and I had my camera with me, so I took them. I really like the one of the three of you," Trini said, as she figured that Kim had not gotten to that one yet.

The majority of the girls had gotten teary-eyed this morning when they saw it. It was just too sweet and they did not picture seeing Tommy being so gentle, although they all knew he was capable of it, he just rarely showed it to anyone. He had to keep up a certain level of toughness, with everyone but Kim.

"Wow," Kim muttered as she saw it. She had never seen a picture where Tommy looked so happy in her life and the way that he so calmly looked at her shocked her. It seemed like there was nothing going on around them except the baby and that was the way they had wanted it to be. She could remember him doing that last night, but it was all a blur with everything else that had gone on that she didn't even realize that they were taking pictures. "I didn't realize you were taking pictures."

"I know, but I'm glad that it was like that. The two of you look like yourselves. You're not guarding anything like you usually do," Trini said, as Kim nodded her head.

They all had this guarded look in their eyes when they took pictures, not that many could notice it, but the two of them did not in this picture and they knew that they were vulnerable, although no one could really see anything but love. Neither of them was worried at that moment and that had somehow managed to shine through, despite what was in the back of their minds.

"Well, we all know what it is like to do that. I'm just glad that she's alright," Kim said with a smile, as she had to admit that she had feared things would go wrong with Angie, just because of her being a ranger. They all couldn't agree more with that statement. If Angie had not been all right, they would have all felt bad about it and Kim and Tommy probably wouldn't have been able to function at all. They wanted her so much and none of them knew if they could take anything bad happening.

"We're all glad that the two of you are alright. I don't know what Tommy would have done if something had happened to either of you. I wouldn't have wanted to see that happen," Rocky said, as he could only imagine what one of his best friends would do and it really scared him and he had a feeling it would scare Kim as well.

"I could imagine what it would be like and it wouldn't be good," Kim said, with a laugh while she ate her breakfast that she had just now managed to unwrap, as she had been distracted from eating by talking to them. "I know I said I didn't want to hear about ranger stuff, but how did they really do after Tommy left? They really are all right?"

"They did alright, but they didn't understand how to use the power boosters and we tried to explain it to them, but I'm not sure it sunk into them. It was fairly late when we started explaining it to them and they were tired. We'll try again in a couple of days," Hayley said, as Kim thought about that and then shook her head.

It had seemed natural to them to use them only in small increments and not use their full force at one time. The younger rangers were bound to test them more than Tommy, because they still got scared during some of the more heated parts of the battles and he was still level headed, most of the time. She knew that there were times when that was not true, but he somehow managed to reign himself in most days.

"That wasn't easy. They didn't understand the point," Zack said, as he looked at his watch out of old habit. They had all gotten used to not wearing a watch and just a communicator, although they had, had to replace that with something to keep them sane after their ranger days were over.

"I can imagine that it wouldn't be. You can't exactly get inside their brains and show them how you do it. They just have to learn from the mistakes that they make," Kim said, as she was sure that her method varied slightly from Tommy's and Jason's but that was because they were different people.

"I wish we could, it would be easier for all of us. They would know and there would be no chance that they would mess up from inexperience," Jason said as Kim nodded her head that she understood, but they were just going to have to find whatever worked best for them.

"Rocky, why are you so tired?" Kim asked, as he yawned before sinking down to the floor. He had been able to stay awake all last night and work with Billy on some things, but the two of them were not able to really function right now, although Billy was fairing better due to previous experience.

"We had to work on some things and I had barely gone to sleep when Hayley called me. It was worth it, though," Rocky said with a smile before he leaned back against the wall to fall asleep. She was glad that Tommy was asleep, as he had been so insistent on things lately that he probably would have yelled at Rocky for talking about this so openly. "Now, I just want to know if he slept any last night."

"I don't think he did, but we all knew that he probably wouldn't. I don't blame him for being worried. It would be just like Mesogogg to attack us in the hospital," Kim said, as Ally nodded her head while looking at Angie and laughing. The little girl would not stay still, as she was squirming in Tommy's arms trying to get him to pay attention to her, although he was sound asleep from exhaustion.

"Tommy got lucky," Adam said, as they all looked at him in confusion. Why would he say something like that now? "What? It's the truth. He got you back and now the two of you have a baby, despite everything else that happened to you. We all know that this probably shouldn't have happened, but it did and that was either luck or something that we know nothing about."

"Thanks for reminding me about all of it. I had kinda forgot that all of that had happened," Kim said with a slight hint of sarcasm, as he moved behind Katherine, afraid that Kim would fire at him at any time. She had plenty of ammunition with the few teddy bears that they had brought in to keep Kim and Tommy from going insane, although they really were for Angie.

"Kim, when are you going to be able to work at the dojo again?" Ally asked, as she was going to have to leave within the next few minutes to teach a class that was scheduled for today. Saturday's were always their busiest day and she was sure that they would insist that it stay that way as long as it could.

Kim and Tommy's week days were so full and there was not much that they could do to change that, unless they were able to get Mesogogg to disappear, which he had done for awhile. Now they knew that they had to defeat him, no matter what anyone else said. That was their top priority right now.

"Around two weeks, but if things progress quickly on the ranger front it might be longer than that," Kim said, as Ally sighed and looked over at Rocky. They had not really sat down and talked about what him going back out there meant for them. She had always thought that she would be able to take it when the day came, but now she was not so sure. "I know that you don't want him to go, but we have to do this, Ally. It's our job, we can't turn aside from it now."

"Why does it have to be you? Why can't it be some other rangers?" Ally asked, as Kim sighed and tried to think of a good way to explain it. They had come after them first and now they just had to deal with it, although that was not the best excuse they could give. "There are other people that can do this just as well as you."

"We asked the same thing of Tommy, but they came after us first, so it is our responsibility. I know that it makes no sense, but we all agreed to it when we first found out about Mesogogg and we have to go through with it," Jason said, trying to smooth things over for Rocky, knowing that he would have to talk to her about this eventually. Jason just wanted to prevent that talk from happening today, as none of them were ready to referee a fight. Also, Rocky was not in the mental state to argue his point. He was never too good when he didn't get sleep.

"But all of you are alright with this?" Ally asked, as she had the feeling that Kim and Tommy did not like the idea at all.

"No, but it is a part of our life as much as anything else is. We've done this for far too long and we know that there are some consequences to it. We always knew that there could be consequences, but we're hoping that it will stay away for just a little while longer," Kim said.

"And we just have to deal with the risks, we always have," Aisha said as Zack looked over at her and tried to not say anything to her about what was going on.

Zack was worried about them still not being back together, but he would talk to her about it before the mission if he had it his way. He could not keep going on acting as if he didn't care when he loved her with everything that he had. If she didn't care, he'd find a way to live with it, but he knew that he could not live with it, no matter what happened.

"I don't understand any of you," Ally said, as Adam looked over at her and tried to think of a way to make her understand how they were and why this was instilled in them.

"Well, maybe this will help you understand why we are like this. You love gymnastics, right?" Adam asked, as she shook her head yes, although none of them knew where he was going with this one. They could only hope that his idea would convey how they felt about being rangers, in some far-fetched way. "Well, you'd do anything to keep on doing gymnastics, even if it meant you might be in danger. We love being rangers and we're willing to come back any time they need an extra ranger."

"But do they really need you this time? There are four other able bodied rangers. Why do the nine of you have to go help save the world?" Ally asked, as they looked over at Hayley and Kim. The two of them would probably be able to answer that question the best of anyone else in the room that was awake.

"We need everyone that can help us to do this. I know that I don't want to have to worry about Mesogogg coming back after we defeat him. I want him to be gone for good," Kim said, as Hayley shook her head that she agreed with her about all of the things that she said. "He has to be gone for good this time, I mean that with every fiber of my being. There can not be any coming back. This has to be our true retirement from being rangers."

"It's rough on all of us, Ally, but we've learned to deal with it," Jason said, as he looked over at Trini who was not comfortable with this conversation. They had started talking about whether or not they wanted to start a family, but with things being so up in the air, the answer had been no and it would stay that way for awhile, although neither of them particularly liked that option. "But Kim's right, we have to do everything right this time. We can't afford to say that we will get them next time, we have a life to live."

"Excuse me, but I need to check on the mother and the baby," Sharon said, as she entered the room full of visitors, who looked slightly put out by her statement.

"Well, we better get going. That dojo is not going to run itself," Rocky said, as he had managed to talk Jason into teaching Tommy's classes today and he knew that Jason would do that, even if it was rough on him. He had a few more responsibilities sitting on his shoulders while Tommy was in the hospital with Kim, although they had all known that this would happen.

"Bye, have a good day," Kim said, as they walked out of the room. As soon as Sharon left, Kim laid back down to get some more rest, which was going to be a luxurious thing over the next few days. Tanya knew that as long as they were in the hospital, she could guarantee that Kim and Tommy got some rest, which was important for them to do while they could.

AN: I just wanted to give you a little piece of what their hospital stay was like. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to review, even if you don't like it!


	9. Going Home

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Sharon.

**SUMMERAN1:** Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it.

Now, on with the Story!

_Going Home_

_Kim's POV_

I've been in this hospital for three days and I have almost lost my mind from having nothing to do here besides walk laps in the hall, which has become boring after about the hundredth time. Tanya does not really like for me to do that because she knows what type of activity I will be going back to once I go home and it will be more than enough to get me back in shape. The thing is, I need to start back now. I can't afford to wait like many of the other mother's that are here can, my job won't really allow it.

It was one thing when I was hurt or sick to have to sit still, but I feel fine, except for the fact that I am still very sore. The soreness is not as bad as I thought it would be, but I still just wish I could move around whenever I want. Tommy has been wonderful though, absolutely wonderful, as he has dealt with all of this so well and everything else that is going on around us. He kept the baby safe, by being his insistent self and now we are finally getting to go home with her, which is what I have been waiting for, for nine months.

"Mornin' Beautiful, I got something for you," Tommy said with a smile, as he walked into her room.

He had gone down to the gift shop to try to find something that Kim would like, as he could tell she was just not her normal self yet and he was hoping a little pick me up would help her get back to normal. He needed her to get back to normal, not that he could tell her that right now. He didn't want to seem selfish by telling her that he couldn't stand her not being her normal self, but she had an excuse that was better than any other excuse she could have. He was going to be patient and wait a little while and hopefully things would start falling into a normal routine.

They had brought in breakfast already by the time he got back, although it looked like Kim had just picked around it, to make it seem like she had eaten something. She was not too fond of the hospital food, at all. She was starving for some real food and could only hope that Tommy still remembered how to cook some things. If he did not remember, he was going to be heading back into Reefside to get her lunch. She had managed to eat some of the meals that they had fed her, but some of the others had just had no appeal to her in the least bit and this was one of them.

The doctors still had to check Angie before they would allow them to leave the hospital and go home, although that might not be as peaceful as their hospital stay. Nothing had happened to call the rangers out while they were here, but they were wondering how much longer it would be quiet. Mesogogg surely wouldn't leave them alone much longer and they knew what that meant for all of the rangers that were involved in this mess.

"You've done enough, Tommy. You don't need to do anything else for me. I'm happy just to have you here with me," Kim said with a smile as she looked up from her untouched breakfast to see him holding his hands behind his back, which did surprise her a little bit, but she had learned to go with the flow long ago.

"Sure," Tommy said, as he held out a black and white tiger for her and a black teddy bear for Angie. They had always just had this thing about sticking within their ranger colors, but this time it was more than normal and both of them picked up on it. They always seemed to get like this when things were rough and in the ranger world, it was rough right now. It might appear to everyone else that things were fine, but the two of them knew the truth of the matter and it scared them to know what they did. If things didn't start changing, Angie would have to go live with the Oliver's. They just couldn't keep putting her in the type of danger she was in right now. "Thought you could use one of these yourself, especially after Angie got all of those."

"Thank you, but I didn't get you anything. I feel bad now," Kim said bouncing up and down before she reached up to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

She had been so desperate to get out of this place that she had forgotten about the tradition of him getting stuffed animals for her when she was in the hospital. It didn't start under the best of circumstances when she had fallen off the balance beam, but she had gotten used to it, especially after all of the times that she had been in the hospital while they were together and even some of the times when they were apart. Jason had known when she had been injured in Miami and went into the hospital and to her surprise, a teddy bear showed up there before she left and it was from him.

They weren't even dating anymore, but he just did it as a friend and she still remembered it, even though they weren't on the best of terms then. She actually couldn't say what terms they where on then, but it didn't matter, it just showed her that he still cared and it was one of her most prized possessions. Anything she got from him, she valued just a little bit more than if it had come from another person, but that stuffed animal meant more to her than anything else.

That was the day that she had started to forgive herself, for everything she had done, but she couldn't fully forgive herself until she was about to talk to Tommy and that happened to be about four years later. She had wished, for years, he would come out there and talk to her, but that never seemed to be something that fit into his plan. So, when she finally got her next chance to make things right, she did without any sort of discretion as to how it would be best to go about it.

"Yeah, you did. You gave me her," Tommy said softly, with a smile lingering on his lips, before he went to pick Angie up out of her temporary crib while Kim sat and watched his every move. She hadn't really though of that as a gift, but it was obvious that Tommy did. To him, she had let him back in her life and given him the love that he thought he was never going to have from her again and Angie was just another thing that proved it was all real to him. That he hadn't just been living in a great dream for the past three years. "Aren't you glad Mommy finally let Daddy back into her life?"

"Tommy, have you lost your mind? You're horrible to say something like that to her. I don't want her to turn against me already. I'm sure that she'll do enough of that when she's a teenager," Kim said happily, as she was excited to go home and sleep in her own bed. She had not been able to sleep that well while she was in the hospital and she hoped going home would do the trick.

There had not been another attack since she had gone into labor, but they both knew it was only a short time before they'd have another one. Mesogogg was getting antsy and it seemed that the only reason that he had delayed it any was because of someone begging him to not attack them and for some reason he listened to what they had to say. Why he listened? They didn't know, but they were happy that he did, as Tommy had taken his communicator back from Jason yesterday, but he still had not been willing to go out and they all knew it.

"I'm not that bad and she'll always love you. You're her mother," Tommy said with a smile, as he heard a faint knock on the door. Kim and he were known for talking too loud, even when they were alone, but it just seemed that most of their friends tried to be nice, thinking that one of them might be resting, which was not likely to happen but they always knocked just in case. "Come in."

"Hey," Hayley said opening the door and peaking her head in. "Everybody ready to go home?"

"Yeah, we just have some last minute things to talk about with Tanya," Tommy said, standing up with Angie in his arms so that Hayley could take a seat. He, quite frankly, was getting tired of sitting down as much as he was and his body was complaining about it as much as it could to him. He knew that he needed to hit the dojo hard some day this week, but he doubted that he would find the time to do that. He was taking some time off to take care of his family and he just didn't know if he was going to make it in. Kim had already told him to take a day and get caught up on all of his work while he was out with them, but he just didn't want to leave them at home or bring them to the dojo either. He just wanted to spend some time alone with the two of them. "Every one have the full news now?"

"They do and they're ready. You know that we'll take care of her when the time comes, Tommy," Hayley said, as Tommy nodded his head, but begrudgingly thought about what that meant. In a week and four days Kim would be able to go back out with them, without Tanya having a cow, and to be honest about it, he didn't like it.

Tanya had told them that they would be safe morphing around Angie, as long as they didn't directly let their powers interact with Angie. They didn't want her to become addicted to the powers at such a young age just because the withdrawal would be horrible and they had no clue what it would do to an infant. It left them mentally unstable as well as weak and that was not something that they ever wanted her to have to deal with, especially without it being a choice of her own.

"We know," Kim said swinging her legs off the side of her bed. She had been walking around as much as she could which was surprised most of the doctors, but they had an agenda to meet that no one else knew about. She had to be ready to morph and fight in about two weeks, which was not a very long time to get herself back like she was before she was pregnant with Angie. She didn't expect to be back to normal, but she did want to try to get as close as she could. If Mesogogg picked up that she was exceptionally weak, then she would have to deal with the consequences and she knew that Tommy didn't need that extra stress added to him. She needed to be able to hold her own, even if that meant bull shitting how strong she was for a few weeks. "Can you pass me that robe?"

"Sure, what did the others say?" Hayley asked knowing that their friends were dealing with it rather well, except Rocky. Ally really didn't want him to go and was finally saying all of it, but it was too little too late at this point. He had to go and he had to do this, they needed him just as much as they needed any other ranger.

"As soon as my two weeks are up, they're taking a few days off so we can get our things together and so we can try to find some people to help us. But that might change, they all knew that they might have to come earlier or later, depending on what is going on. I know that they might not come at all, especially if we only need them at the end. Tommy and I are giving up what we have in exchange for what they are getting back," Kim said, as Tommy handed Angie to her without so much as a second thought about all of it.

"Good, so when do they let you out of here?" Hayley asked, knowing who else was waiting for them, although they were fairly clueless, thanks to the fact Tommy wouldn't leave the two most precious people in his life alone at the hospital. They did not blame him for doing that, but it was one thing that helped them pull off what they were planning for when they came home.

"About 10:30," Kim said spinning around while Hayley and Tommy stifled back laughs. Kim had been trying to dance ever since she had Angie, just because she had gotten so tired of being told to sit still by everyone that knew her. She had done that for nine months and now she was going to enjoy herself, no matter what the doctors or Tommy said to her. "I'll finally have some real food."

"Are you dissing my hospital food?" Tanya asked as she walked in, knowing that Kim would be up and probably walking around with Angie in her arms. She had been every day when she came in at that time and Tanya really didn't know how she did it. Tommy and she had barely gotten any sleep, but they both were about as awake as everyone else, blame it on the powers.

The majority of the medical staff had not been to happy with Tanya's decision to let the little Oliver stay with her parents, but Kim and Tommy could not help but be more than thankful for it, as the nursery did have an odd person come in, although no one had told them if they had ever found out who it was. Sharon had been more than willing to elaborate on it, but there was something that made them think that they were all holding something back from the two of them. It seemed to them that the person had been specific and they were just lucky that Angie had not been in there that night. They had known that Mesogogg might have tried something sneaky and they were right, although most of the hospital staff would not know the truth about the matter, not that they needed to know anything about it.

"Tanya, can you really blame me for that one? I'm used to his cooking now," Kim said, as Hayley and Tanya laughed at that.

They could not believe that Tommy knew how to boil water, much less cook anything that would be considered edible. It just didn't go with the whole strong, tough guy thing that he had, had going for him since they could remember seeing him.

"I wish my husband would cook for me," Tanya said sadly, as they looked over at her.

They had been getting the impression that her husband was not the nicest man in the world, but Tanya would never leave him, unless he really pushed her. Tommy and Rocky wished she would have come back sooner, they might have been able to keep this from happening, but they couldn't change what had already happened.

They're all, all right with her, even Ally, who was a little bit skeptical at first due to Rocky and Tanya's past relationship. It seemed that they had both been able to put it behind them, although it had take Rocky a little bit longer than most others.

"Well, she didn't say that it was good, Tanya. She just said that she had gotten used to him cooking," Hayley said, as Tommy glared over at her, before tossing a teddy bear at her head, which she was able to catch before it hit her.

"He can cook, I promise," Kim said, as Angie let out a gurgle at how silly they were being. They were fighting about Tommy's cooking skills and he was just being aggravated by it all. This was something he had never expected to have three women fighting about over him, but it was better than some of the things that had happened to him in the past. "See, she believes me."

"She doesn't know any better. All she knows is what you say," Hayley said as Tommy decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut about this situation. The girls were just joking or so he hoped.

"And it is no fair to bring little Angie in, we're suckers for her already," Tanya said, guiding Kim over to her bed, as she knew she needed to sit her down in order to check everything out. She had barely been able to get Kim to sit down for an hour total since she had started moving around, but luckily, Kim was fine, which seemed to be a miracle.

"Yes it is, she's been surviving off of his cooking for the past nine months," Kim said defensively, as Tommy threw up both of his hands out of frustration. If this kept up much longer, he would have to cook for all of them, just to prove Kim's point.

"Look, this is getting us no closer to getting you two home. So can we just skip the fight about how bad or good my cooking is," Tommy said, as they noticed some anxiousness in his voice. He had a lot of things he had to worry about and if he didn't get half of it done; then a lot of people would be in trouble.

"Too dangerous here for you, Tommy?" Tanya asked, noticing her old leader was carefully looking around the room and he seemed as jumpy as he was their first night there.

He had been like this so many times before when he had dated Kat, but with Kim, it was at least ten times worse and she understood why Kat and him would have never worked out long term. There just was not that added spark there and they all could see it between Kat and Adam, but it had been what was missing between Kat and Tommy. They just hadn't noticed it until they saw Kim and Tommy together. That was what really proved all of it to them, even if Tommy didn't want to admit it right away.

"Not right now. I'm just ready to sleep in my own bed. I won't worry as much once I'm home," Tommy said, as he had not really gotten any sleep while he was at the hospital. He had taken naps during the daytime, knowing that Kim would be awake the whole time and she could protect herself, if she absolutely had to do something like that, but at night he didn't trust anyone.

"Fine, Tommy, but I'll see you in two weeks, alright?" Tanya asked, signing the release papers so they would be able to get on their way without any problems.

_Oliver Residence_

"Guys, I'm not sure that they'll take to this too well. They probably just want to come home and sleep for the rest of the afternoon," Trini said, as they looked over at her and then continued with what they were doing. Kim and Tommy would probably be thrilled because they wouldn't have to fix themselves anything to eat. They knew that Kim had been craving some normal food and she was going to get it now.

"Trini, there's food here. I know Tommy will take it well, just because of the fact he doesn't have to cook anything," Jason said, as he saw Kim's car pull up. There was not much use in hiding, as they would see the decorations the second they walked in, but they did it just for the hell of it this time.

"Hayley, you're sure that everything is alright?" Tommy asked, as he wanted to go down through the command center, just to check things out, but Hayley was very insistent that they go in through the front door and not through any other entrance to their house.

"Yes, Mr. Worrier. She's already said it a hundred times, Tommy. Calm down, it's all fine," Kim said, as he picked the car seat up out of the back seat. She might have been feeling wonderful, but she still was not up to carrying much of anything. Not that Tommy planned to let her do that anytime soon from the way that he had been acting but she knew he would have to let her eventually. "Come on, let's go inside."

"Alright, but I still feel like something is up," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him and just shook her head. He was going to feel like something was up until Mesogogg was defeated, no matter how many times they said that everything was all right.

"Surprise!" Their friends yelled, as they both stared at them, wondering when they had found time to do this. They had, had to go back to work today and they never really expected for them to do this at all. Kim and Tommy were just planning to go home, get lunch, and then sleep the rest of the day.

"I told you," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him before noticing some other familiar faces in the group, faces that were not meant to be there.

Tommy noticed them as well and he prepared himself for one of two reactions, hoping that it would not be the one that she fainted in. He couldn't drop Angie and grab her at the same time, although he had already put the car seat on the floor out of previous experience in her being shocked and was heading to stand behind her, just in case.

"Mom? Dad?" Kim asked, looking from her friends and back to them before she ran to give both of them a hug at once. Tommy stood and watched his wife, glad that they had been able to come after all. None of them had known if they would be able to make it, but it was a wonderful surprise to see them there, even if he didn't know about it.

"Hey, sweetie. Your friends called us when you went into labor and we were able to get tickets out here," Mrs. Dumas said, as Kim cried on her shoulder from pure happiness. She had wanted to see her family so much lately and she knew Tommy had picked up on it, but no one else had said that they understood it. It seemed that her friends had been paying better attention than she thought they were over the last few months. "It's so good to see you. How are you doing?"

"Mama," Kim muttered as she continued to give her a hug. She had, had questions to ask her mother, but she had never had the chance, although Mrs. Oliver did help her as much as she could. She couldn't help but think about how lucky she had been to marry someone that had parents that cared that much, although her parents did help just as much. They just lived so much farther away than his parents did and it was harder to be able to see them and talk to them on a regular basis. "I can't believe it. I didn't think you would be able to do this."

"Baby, we were going to come see you, no matter what. We just were able to get away earlier than we thought," Mr. Hart said, as he gave Kim a hug and picked her up off the ground. He remembered the promise that he made to her at her wedding and he was not going to deal with disappointing her again. He was sure that Tommy would not be as nice this time if he did that and he was sure that his daughter would be just as mad and he might even receive her wrath this time. That was something that he did not want to deal with, ever. "Now, I want to see that grandbaby of mine."

"Alright," Tommy said, as he had taken Angie out of her car seat, trying not to wake her up. She had gone back to sleep on the ride out to their house and he was sure that she would be sleeping a good deal for the next few months. He was thankful for that much, as things were not going to be easy on them for the next few months anyway with the way Mesogogg was acting and they didn't need for her to be really fussy.

"She's a pretty little girl. Now, did you stick with Angie?" Mrs. Dumas asked, as Tommy nodded his head. He was certainly a proud father from what she could see and she had expected him to be that way. He had always been proud of Kim and anything that they did together and this was just to be expected from him.

"I'm going to go put her upstairs, so we won't wake her up. I'm sure that we'll get loud," Tommy said, looking over at Kim to make sure that she was fine with that. They knew that they were bound to be talking a lot more with their friends and they both knew that they did not want to deal with a fussy baby this early in the morning, especially after the lack of sleep that they had had lately.

"Let me, Tommy," Mrs. Dumas said, as she gently took Angie out of Tommy's arms and walked up the stairs to place her in her crib and turn on the baby monitor. She knew that she would not be spending as much time with her granddaughter as she wished, but she wanted to spend as much time as she could while it was still possible.

"Are the two of you doing alright?" Mr. Hart asked, as Kim went to sit down in the recliner without causing any commotion if she could manage it.

"We're fine, just tired. It's been a long weekend and my boss isn't too happy with me right now," Tommy said, as he had talked to Principal Randall over the phone yesterday and she had been rather pissed about him taking a week and a couple of days off, but he felt that he needed to do that. Kim had a lot to adjust to over the next few weeks and not all of it had to deal with Angie, so she was going to need the extra help.

"She'll get over it, Tommy. She can kiss my ass as far as I'm concerned," Kim said as she had heard what Randall said and she had honestly wanted Tommy to give her the telephone so that she could give the woman a piece of her mind. There was nothing that made her more mad than someone accusing Tommy of being lazy and that was what Randall had done. She didn't know the whole story and that gave her no right to accuse Tommy of something like that in Kim's mind. "I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me talk to her."

"I know you, that's why and you would have told her to kiss your ass," Tommy said, as many of the people in the room could only imagine what Kim would have had in store for Randall if she had been allowed to talk to her and it actually might have gotten Tommy fired, although he would have been thankful for that in some ways. "Now, is everything alright here?"

"Yeah, no one has come by," Jason said, as vaguely as he could. He had seen the rangers yesterday and he just told them to give Tommy and Kim a few days to themselves before they came to visit. He was sure that they were going to be sleeping a lot for the next few days and then work began for the two of them. "Do either of you want anything to eat?"

"I'm starved," Kim and Tommy said in unison, as Rocky and Aisha went to fix them two plates. They knew that they would have more than enough food for the two of them to survive on for the next few hours, as they all sat back and enjoyed some peace and quiet. They hadn't been able to have that over the last few days and being able to be with their friends and family allowed them to enjoy it even more.

AN: I hope that you enjoyed how they came home and just to let you know things are about to start changing in peaceful Reefside.


	10. Trading

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Sharon.

**SUMMERAN1:** Well, I try to let my reviewers know that they are appreciated and I am glad that you have enjoyed what has happened in this story, so far.

**forevercrane:** Thank you so much for the review.

Now, on with the Story!

_A New Power, for an Old Power_

_Kira's POV_

We came to Dr. O's house today knowing that we were going to see an odd occurrence happen, at least from what I hear it is quite odd for this to happen during a ranger period. I actually don't think that it has ever happened before, but I could be wrong. I don't know as much about ranger history as a lot of people do.

You see, Kim and Dr. O have decided that they will go ahead and exchange their current powers for the ones that they used to defeat Nicarni-Aso, a couple of years ago. That means from what I am able to understand that Kim will have to morph today, which is something none of us expected to happen so soon. I know that I thought it would be several more weeks before she did that, especially after just having a baby, but they seem to think that it is safe. Although I doubt that they have consulted any doctor about this particular situation. I don't even know if her doctor knows that she is a ranger at all, which is to be expected.

The other, older, rangers have decided to wait until they know that they will be going to the final battle within a few days to get their powers back, except for Jason who has had his for roughly a year as Dr. O saw it necessary to give him his powers when we went to get Kim back. It was a good thing he had them, he needed them. These powers have done some odd things to them in the past and both Kim and Dr. O know what the side affects are and what they might do to them.

From what I've heard, they're not that easy to deal with and it makes them sick after they've had them for awhile, but I know that they can handle it, if anyone can do it they can. It's really amazing to see all of the things that they have been able to do. They did this before; I don't see why things should change now because of everything else that they have going on. I just hope that it is not too much too soon, because Kim really might not be able to take such a pitfall so soon after having Angie.

"Hey, Dr. O. Ethan and Trent said that they couldn't make it today, but they'll be up here sometime before you come back to school. They're trying to not act too suspicious, what with Mesogogg showing back up and all," Conner said, as he and Kira walked into the command center and settled down on a couch at the back of it.

They could tell when they first walked in that Kim was not exactly thrilled about everything that was going on, but she would find a way to deal with it. She had always been able to do that before and they doubted that she was going to get in an argument over when she changed her powers. They, however, did not know the mood that Kim was in today and it was not good for them to witness it today.

"Okay," Tommy said, as he turned his attention back to Kim, who was not exactly happy with him at the moment, not after the decision he had made this morning.

She didn't know if her body was ready to receive the new, old, powers, but all of the technical experts agreed that she needed to try to get them sooner, rather than later. They could combat problems before she went into the field, but once she was out there, there was nothing that they could do and they didn't want to have to bring her back into the command center during a fight because of a problem with her handling the powers. They knew that they might not be able to get her back in time and that was a reality that they didn't really want to deal with, as there was now a child that depended on her and Tommy being alive.

"I've been out of the hospital for two days, Tommy. I don't know if this is a good idea to go ahead and do this. I don't think that my body can take it," Kim said, as Billy walked over and put his arm around her shoulders.

He could understand why they were stressing about this particular situation, but they all agreed that her going ahead and changing powers was for the best, although Kim had been struggling with it every step of the way. She didn't want to do this now, but she seemed to have been outvoted by people that claimed to know what they were doing in this type of situation. If they were wrong, they were sure that they would hear an earful from Kim, but they would rather receive an earful from her than see her die out there.

"Kim, honey, we don't know if it is a great idea either, but we do know that you need to do this. You have to switch powers sometime soon; you might as well do it now, so you can get used to it," Tommy said as he put his hand over hers and he carefully watched to see what type of reaction she was going to have to his statement.

He knew that he would find out what she was thinking in a matter of seconds and he only hoped that it would not be too bad. When she yanked her hand away, he knew that whatever she said next would not be good and he could only pray that it was not too mean and that the rangers would not stare at her in shock. They had not seen her mad at him before and he was sure that they were about to be educated in how to calm Kimberly Oliver down once she was pissed off at him.

"Tommy, it's not the same for you! You just didn't have a baby, now did you? You're not worried about what these powers will do to our baby! You're just worried about what will happen to the poor rangers if I can't fight!" Kim yelled as Conner and Kira looked over at her with curiosity in their eyes, but they kept their mouths closed.

Tommy had been known to have his yelling matches with some of the other rangers, when they didn't use their better judgement about a situation, but they had never heard Kim start one with him before. They knew that they fought, but it was rarely to the point that anyone else saw it, but now they were unlucky enough to see a fight.

They never had wanted to have front row seats to such an event, but they had been the ones that were lucky enough to not have anything to do this afternoon and that landed them right where they were at the moment. They wished that they could be somewhere else right now from how the two of them were acting, but that just didn't seem like it was going to happen for them.

"Well, you make it seem like I wasn't even there. Kim, I know that you are not comfortable doing this, but we need to know how much of an effect these powers are going to have on you. I don't want something to happen to you out there and we know that things are going to happen; I just don't want it to have anything to do with your powers," Tommy said, calmly, as she stared at him for a few more seconds before she handed over her dino morpher to Alpha.

They had yet to find someone that would take either of their powers, but they were working on it, although it was rough to really be able to find someone. No one seemed to be an accepting candidate, although they had not really tried searching for them, yet. When the time came they were going to have to throw it at someone and they could only pray that the people would willingly take the powers, without too many questions about why they needed two pink and black rangers. It was going to be hard enough to explain that they were two separate teams and thus worked apart.

"Okay, so if I pass out now, it's alright? It's not a battle; it doesn't really matter," Kim snapped as Tommy looked down at the floor and then over at the wall, to try to keep from saying anything mean to her, it wouldn't help for him to do that.

He knew that she was tired and had not had a complete night's sleep since she had, had Angie, but neither had he and he was not in a bad mood. He had come to the conclusion that they might as well do this now or they would suffer the consequences later, which did not make him feel any better about the matter. These powers had been the toughest to deal with and he honestly wondered if she remembered that now.

"No it's not, but wouldn't you rather have something like that happen here than when you are in battle, Kim?" Tommy asked to the wall, as he did not want to have to face the hard look that he was sure was held in her eyes, as he passed his own morpher over to Alpha.

He hated when she was mad at him, but this was something that just had to be done. He didn't like that this was the way that it had to be done, but they had no real choice. Mesogogg was now a very real threat once again and he wanted to make sure that they had the best equipment that they could.

Alpha quickly took a look at their morphers and began the long and difficult de-bonding process. He knew that the two of them had been through the most power withdrawals, but neither of them were going to feel too many affects from this or that was what he hoped. It, however, turned out to be much rougher on them than they had expected it to be and that hurt them.

After about five minutes, Kim was sitting on the floor and Tommy had propped himself up against the wall trying to keep from going and wrapping his arms around her. Kim had refused to let Tommy guide her to the floor when she sat down, as she was still mad that she had to do this, but she was now wishing that he was sitting behind her right now. Neither of them was feeling too great, but it sure as hell beat having to have their powers drained out of them. They had been writhing in pain from that particular type of agony; this power drainage just made them feel weak and a little bit disoriented, which didn't help them at all.

"You feeling alright?" Billy asked, as Kim looked up at him and he could tell what her answer was and it contained several words that should not be said in front of younger rangers. Tommy, however, did not look as bad, but they could still tell that it was not a great feeling for either of them, having your powers taken away never was pleasant to experience.

"I've been better," Tommy said, as Kim looked over at him, knowing that he did not feel that bad from how his voice sounded, but by looking at him she knew that he was only trying to keep her spirits up. He was feeling worse than he wanted to let on.

She, however, felt horrible, but they had honestly expected this to happen to her and for it to not happen to him. They hated to say that to her, but she now was agreeing with them, knowing that if they had waited, she wouldn't have been able to do anything. She would have been too weak from having her powers traded that she would not have lasted more than ten minutes in a battle of any size and they would need everyone they could get.

"Well, it'll only be a few more minutes before you can take your old powers back. I know that the two of you will feel better after that happens," Alpha said, as he noticed that Kim was trying to scoot herself closer to Tommy without calling too much attention to herself or what she was trying to do. She didn't want to admit to him that her yelling had been completely uncalled for, but she was sure that would happen as soon as he came anywhere near her. "Tommy, would you please…"

"Sure," Tommy said, as he walked over to where Kim was sitting and helped her up off of the floor. He knew that she was still mad at him for deciding this without really asking her about it first, but he had not had much choice. They did need to do this, as soon as they could. Mesogogg would only be quiet for so long and if they waited much longer then they might have some severe problems to deal with as a result of not having the stronger powers. "I'm sorry."

"It'll be fine. I know that you were right about this. I just didn't want to have to morph so soon after having Angie; I'm afraid of what it will do," Kim said, as she knew that she would not have been able to fight if they had done this the day that the final battle began. She would have been too weak and it seemed that they were right about going ahead and letting her exchange her powers.

"Okay, here you go Kim. Morph whenever you are ready," Alpha said, passing her, her morpher, with a little bit of trepidation present in his mind. Kim was not in the best condition to try this, but she seemed to be up for almost anything now that Tommy had convinced her to change powers.

She had barely finished muttering the morphing sequence before she slumped over into Tommy's awaiting arms. Alpha quickly de-morphed her, while Tommy picked her up off the ground and laid her down on the gurney that they had prepared, for this exact situation. It scared him to see that happen, but she quickly shook herself out of it, scared to know that she had blacked out but was glad to feel him holding her close.

"Why me?" Kim muttered, quietly as Tommy gave her a hug and then he morphed, without any side affects. He felt the surge of power go through him and none of the other powers he had ever had compared to this set. He knew that they were much more powerful, but he could only hope that all of the people that went against them would not be as powerful.

"I don't know," Tommy said, as he de-morphed and she sat up. The room started to spin, but she did not land back on the floor this time, as Tommy caught her and gently held her close to him. He gave her a kiss on the temple and then managed to get her to look him in the eyes. "Slow down, some honey. We've got some time to figure this out."

"You're one to talk," Kim said, as she remembered him having the same problems when he was the green ranger. He had tried to go on with little reserves, but it eventually cost him all of the powers that he had, although she was sure that he could remember that very well on his own and did not really need any reminding.

"I know, but you've got to. It won't do you any good to try to rush getting used to these powers," Tommy said, as Conner and Kira exchanged a glance before shaking it off.

"Dr. O, who is going to take your place on our team of rangers?" Kira asked, as she knew that there was no way for the two of them to have both of their powers and they had chosen the set that they currently had for this particular battle. She couldn't help but wonder why, although she got the feeling that the ones they now had were much stronger than their old powers.

"I don't know that yet Kira. We're going to have to do some searching in order to find the right people, but don't worry about it. When the time comes to battle Mesogogg for the last time, you'll have someone there," Tommy said confidently, as Kim gave him a wary look.

She knew exactly how hard it was going to be to find two people that could replace them, but she knew that her husband was going to try his hardest to do just that and keep the other rangers encouraged. He was not going to put someone in that could not do the job and if it came down to it, then they just wouldn't have those two rangers. It would help if they could have them, but they could live without it if they were forced to do so.

"How can you be so sure?" Conner asked, as he knew that bad things did happen sometimes and they might not be able to find someone to replace them at all.

"We're not, but we know that it will all work out eventually and if it doesn't there are enough of us to take care of it," Tommy said. The rest of the afternoon they worked on further modifications and teaching the younger rangers how to use their power boosters without it affecting them the way that it had the last time that they had used it. It was rough on Conner and Kira, but they felt that they were finally making some progress with it by the time that they left and they could only pray that it would stay quiet a little bit longer.

AN: I know that this is a short chapter, but I hope that you have enjoyed it! Feel free to review!


	11. Back to School

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Sharon, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Back to School_

_Tommy's POV_

Well, I started back to school today, after a week and a couple of extra days off that was certainly interesting for me, to say the least. After Angie was born, on early Saturday morning, we both knew that the other things in our life needed to be attended to as quickly as possible. It was not that we didn't want to have time to heal, but time was definitely not on our side with the current situations we have.

Kim, on her second day out of the hospital, morphed for the first time and fainted afterwards, but we had no choice but to try it, although Tanya had a fit when she found out, not that we purposely told her about the incident. She guessed about it, as Kim's and my communicators were changed after we received the new powers and it was fairly obvious that the change had occurred. It always is when your powers are changed from one set to another. It seems like everything about you changes and you shift into being another form of yourself.

Tanya understands how all of this is, but she also has to look at Kim as a patient and not just a ranger with a job to do. She insisted that Kim not do it again until the two weeks are up, but she is going to try it again this afternoon. She wants to try it and I know that it would make me feel better if she was able to morph for more than a few seconds before we have to go fight somewhere.

We have to be ready for anything and that means that we might have to go against what several doctors would say to her if they knew the whole story. I imagine that if they knew the whole story, several of them would yell and scream at us for even getting pregnant, but that is why it is kept a secret and it will always be kept a secret.

I walked into my classroom this morning and my homeroom was rather somber, which surprised me. This group of tenth graders have been through hell this year, with me having to leave so often, with Kim's doctors appointments, problems at the dojo, and other things that I put in one of those categories because I couldn't say what it really was. I could only imagine if I had had a teacher like this in high school, but luckily all of my teachers were just teachers; none of them lead the double life of being the head ranger as well.

Principal Randall decided that she is the only one that could sit with them and try to teach them something, although I doubt that she was able to do that. They don't respect her and they know how I feel about her, actually I think most of the school knows how I feel about her. They have to after all the times that we have gotten into fights in the middle of the hallway before or right after recess.

I know that I did not approve of her teaching my classes, but there was nothing I could do about it. She insisted on it and the only thing I could do was apologize to my classes, and most of them took it rather well. I just thought that they would have been talkative, but something was wrong with them and I soon found out what it was as Principal Randall entered the room.

"Well, Dr. Oliver, I am surprised to see you back today. I thought you would be taking several more days off, due to the fact that your wife just had the baby. How is she, by the way?" Principal Randall asked, as he stared over at her, wondering why she was in his classroom anymore.

He had made it perfectly clear when he would come back to teach a few days ago, not that she had listened to him then. She had thought that something would come up and he would be out a couple more days, which would give her more time to gather information from the students, which had been a futile effort so far. They really seemed to know nothing and it did shock her that he was able to keep it a secret so well. Although, she had come up with the idea that this might not have been his first time as a ranger, which would explain a lot.

"She's fine and I am back here to teach. So, I no longer need a substitute, thank you very much for your services. I am sure that my classes really appreciated it," Tommy said, as Principal Randall looked between him and his homeroom class, seeing that he was deathly serious about every word that he said.

He knew that the only reason he would need a substitute was if he had to fight the final battle during school, which was a distinct possibility right now. He wanted to do that as soon as he could and if that meant that he would have to take a month or more out of school, then he would. If he lost his job, then that just happened, saving the world was much more important. He did have the dojo to fall back on now and he would do that if it came down to it.

"Dr. Oliver, have you not remembered who is in charge at this school?" Principal Randall asked, as Tommy looked over at her and nodded his head yes. If he attempted to say anything, there was no guarantee that he would be able to control his anger and he did not want to get into a yelling match on his first day back at school. As long as he could manage to hold his temper then he would have the upper hand, but when he lost it, he was sure that she would bitch about it for days, although there were some times when he would rather handle that side of her. If she acted like a bitch, then he had the excuse to be mean to her. "Well, I shall see you at our faculty meeting this afternoon."

"I guess I'll be there. I thought that we held faculty meetings on Monday, though," Tommy said, giving her an odd look.

He knew that they usually did not make people make it up, but that even seemed to be out of the question right now. It seemed like she was suggesting that they had, had no meeting at all, which was an odd occurrence. What would have made her call off her weekly torture session?

"Well since you were not here, I thought we'd have one to reintroduce you to the rest of the faculty. They probably don't even know who you are anymore after all the time that you've missed," Principal Randall said, as he shook his head that he understood and knew he would just have to deal with it. Most of the faculty had already seen him this morning or had seen him while he was gone, but she seemed to ignore that fact with ease. She hadn't even asked to see a picture of Angie like everyone else had, but he could honestly say that he didn't really expect much more out of her. She had never acted as if she had cared before, why would things change now?

"I'll be there," Tommy said begrudgingly as Principal Randall exited the room and he then looked out at his homeroom. They seemed guilty that this had happened to him, but now they were sheepishly smiling. They always enjoyed when Dr. O made Principal Randall look like a fool, but he had held his tongue back today, which was even funnier. They could only imagine the thoughts that were bouncing around in his brain at the moment and they were sure that they could get some of them out of him, with just a little bit of prodding. "You knew, didn't you?"

"We didn't know that she was going to do that, but she mentioned some crazy things while she subbed for you this last week. She seemed to think that you knew something about the Power Rangers, that is crazy, isn't it? No one knows who they are and no one will ever find out," Jennifer Meadows said as Tommy looked at her and then silently swore in his brain before looking out at his class.

Principal Randall had crossed the line and how in the world had she known that anyway? There were only a select few that knew about his ranger involvement and she had not been one of those privileged few that he had told. What was going on here? What had happened that he missed?

"Yeah, it is, but just keep it between all of us that she mentioned something that crazy. I'm not really surprised that she would say something like that. She doesn't like me anyway," Tommy said, as they laughed.

They were happy to have their teacher back, although many of them knew that meant that their work would be a lot harder than it had been over the last few days though. She had been so interested in trying to see if they knew anything about the rangers that she had not managed to teach them anything, which worried them considering the fact that she was supposed to administer one of his tests to them.

"Dr. Oliver, when is our next test?" Adam Briggs asked, as Tommy looked at them and just shook his head. They were supposed to have been tested on Tuesday, but that obviously did not happen. Principal Randall was going to catch it whenever he got a chance to tell her off about how she had conducted herself in his classroom. She made it seem like no one else could teach the class, but she didn't do a damn bit of work herself.

"Well, I thought that you were going to take a test yesterday, but obviously she did not follow my lesson plans. It'll be today, sorry about that. Don't worry though, if all of you fail we'll go over it again and retest," Tommy said as they sighed that they had to take a test, but at least they were back to normal work and a normal schedule, which was what they were used to with him. It was rare that he changed his schedule on them and it gave them a small bit of consistency when no other teacher gave them any. He had hated when things were inconsistent and he wanted to give them that much. They deserved that from him. "Okay, go ahead and go to first period and I hope that you have a good day."

_Faculty Meeting_

"Tommy, how's life been treating you lately?" Dennis asked, as Tommy plopped down into a chair next to him.

Tommy looked stressed and thoroughly pissed off about having to be at a meeting this afternoon, but he would be alright, somehow. Dennis had seen Tommy act like this at faculty meetings before and he got the feeling that he just wanted to be going home right now. He knew how much that little baby girl and his wife meant to him and this day had, had to have been rough on him. He hadn't been teaching his classes at the dojo and this was truly his first day away from the both of them and it had to hurt.

"Not that bad, but I thought we would not have to do this today. Kim is not going to be happy when I get home later than she expected. Angie didn't sleep too good last night and I couldn't get out of bed to help her because of the fact that I had to work today," Tommy said, as Amanda came in and sat down next to Dennis with a sigh and looked over at him with a glare evident in her eyes. "Did you have a bad day, too?"

"Except for the fact that I was cussed out by one of my students and Principal Randall didn't do a thing about it, it was a great day," Amanda said, as Dennis looked over at her and then sighed because of everything that was going on. This was rough to deal with but they would all learn how to take it, although they tried to do just that. This was so different from the way that Principal Strigner had treated them and they wished he would consider coming out of retirement or that the school board would consider getting them a decent principal, as things were going from bad to worse this year. It had to get better soon or the teacher's were going to start looking for different jobs.

"Principal Randall didn't do anything about it?" Tommy asked, as he was surprised that she had not taken the child into her office and given him a good cussing out of her own. He had, had that happen to him enough times for just slipping up and being a tiny bit late to class. He was sure that the students would warrant that type of treatment if they crossed the line.

"No, she has been letting things slide ever since you took a leave of absence. She seems to have something else on her mind, not that I mind. That means that she is not walking the halls and coming in to check on my teaching, which she always finds some problem with," Dennis said, as Tommy could only think about some of the odd occurrences that had happened since last Monday, when he had not showed up at work.

Elsa had appeared twice in the vicinity of his house and he suspected that it had something to do with Angie's birth, not that he could prove it, yet. He had started leaving his communicator on during school, knowing that Kim, Alpha, or Hayley might call him at anytime and he would have to leave the school. The time for avoiding suspicious actions was over; they had to do what they had to do to get rid of Mesogogg. He did not want to live with the risk of Mesogogg deciding to take a huge risk of his own and take Angie as he and Kim would be the most violent that they had ever been. They could not lose her; it was as simple as that.

"Has she been watching my class at all over the last few days?" Tommy asked, feeling that she had done nothing with them over those days that he was absent and that she had somehow been scouting him out, but why? She couldn't be Elsa or that was what he had always thought until now. He would have to talk to Alpha about that one, if he ever made it home this afternoon.

"No, I've watched them more than she has, but she still wouldn't get you a true substitute when I suggested it. It seemed like she didn't want your class to have a teacher, to be honest," Dennis said, as they looked up to see if Principal Randall had entered the auditorium, but it happened to be the school secretary, who looked rather disturbed. She had just overheard a conversation in the office that scared her out of her wits.

Principal Randall was talking to Mesogogg or someone that sounded a lot like him and he was telling her to go scout out the Oliver's. She wished that she could give Tommy a warning, but it didn't seem like it would help him any. He couldn't do anything to stop Mesogogg no matter how good he was at karate. If the creature had something against him, he was just in for some bad luck, which was pity with everything else that was going on in the boy's life right now.

"I'm sorry, Principal Randall had an emergency and she said that she'd talk to you when she got a chance. You can all go home for the day," Mrs. Thornsby said, as Tommy looked over at Amanda and Dennis before he leapt to his feet and ran towards the door. The feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach did not help this, as he knew he had to get home as quickly as he could.

"Tommy, what's wrong?" Amanda asked to the back of the sixth degree black belt's head as he vaulted around people and made his way to the door.

Something had triggered him to do that, but she had no idea what it could possibly be and she didn't really want to know what it was with the way he was acting. Things had been odd when she had gone to visit them in the hospital and she had just decided it was best to ignore all of it.

_At Home_

"Well, this is different. Elsa is scouting out your home right now. Lucky us, Tommy is not home to go hunt her down this time. One day he is going to teach those things a lesson," Hayley said, as Kim walked down the stairs with Angie in her arms.

Neither of them was comfortable leaving her upstairs when they had to work in the Command Center because of how erratic Mesogogg's behavior had been. Alpha refused to teleport the baby anywhere, unless it was absolutely necessary, so they just carried her into the command center every time that they went down there and she seemed to be getting used to the look of the place.

"I know, but he has his reasons to worry. He is ranger and has been long enough to know all of the risks that go along with this and Mesogogg is more random than anything else we have ever dealt with," Kim said, as she heard the door upstairs slam shut and she handed Angie over to Hayley, so she could go see who it was. If it was Tommy, there would be no problem, but if it was anyone else, then they were about to meet a pissed mother. "Tommy!"

"Oh Kim, thank goodness. Have you picked up Elsa lurking around here anywhere?" Tommy asked, as she stared up at him and then nodded her head that they had.

He then gave her a hug and just stood there for a few minutes. He did not want to let her go. This day had just brought a horrible reality to his mind and he did not want to share it with her now, but he did not have much of a choice in the matter. Now did not seem to be a great time to do so, but he would have to soon, so that she would have all of the facts staring her in the face as well.

"Tommy, what's going on? Is something wrong?" Kim asked into his chest, as he had not let her go, as of yet. He was trying to keep himself calm, but that was barely working anymore. She was usually able to calm him down some, but this time she had no clue how to do that. It seemed that he just wanted to hold her as tight as he possibly could and be thankful that she was there for a little while.

"I think that I know who Elsa's alter-ego is. Is Angie in the Command Center with Hayley right now?" Tommy asked, as he gradually let go of Kim and followed her down into the Command Center.

They had both been worried that Angie would now become Mesogogg's key target and it was seeming that Elsa had been the one that was sent to get her. With that knowledge looming around in their brains, Angie's bassinet had not been put out of Kim's arms reach since she had been brought home. They would keep it that way as long as they had to do so, even if that meant she was two and still in their room.

"What do you mean? I thought that we had not figured that one out yet," Kim said as Hayley and Alpha looked at her before they figured out who they were talking about. "Who is it?"

"Elsa?" Hayley asked, as Tommy walked over and picked Angie up out of her arms.

They all knew that Tommy would not be at home as much as he would like over the coming weeks and months, so he wanted the time that he did have with Kim and Angie to be worth his while. He knew that he might not get as much time as other fathers did and he didn't like thinking about death, but it had come up more often in his mind lately.

"Yes, it's Principal Randall, I'm almost certain about it. I don't know why I didn't realize it earlier. All of the clues were pointing to her," Tommy said as Kim sat down and looked over at him, while covering her mouth. She was more shocked than she could ever believe she would be.

Principal Randall had never been nice to Tommy, but this was not something she had expected to see as they had never had someone that close to them that was an informant for the other side of the coin. Randall controlled whether or not Tommy would still work at that school and they both knew that if she was still under Mesogogg's control when they defeated him then it might not be good for them. He might lose his job and they didn't really need for that to happen to him right now. They didn't need for things to become too suspicious too early.

"No way, Tommy," Kim said, as she just continued to stare at him and he could only shake his head that it was true. It was horrible to know it, but it was even worse that he knew the woman and had to work for her every day of the week. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, but I'm hoping that Kat will seriously be willing to baby sit Angie. I know I won't trust anyone that does not know what is going on right now. They would be careless, in ways that they wouldn't realize," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head and then saw Alpha pull up information on Elsa and Principal Randall. There were no comparisons there, but Tommy knew the truth and they did trust him, no matter how foolish some people thought that idea was.

"She will Tommy, but I understand what you are thinking," Kim said, as Tommy walked over and sat down next to her. He could believe that she was that scared and upset about it all.

It was rough on the two of them, but it seemed to be getting worse as the weeks went on. She was stressed and was barely able to take all of this with Angie being so young, but they were about to let her try morphing again. She had not responded to it very well the last time. She and Tommy had already traded in for their other powers, knowing that they had to be able to deal with those. It didn't matter if she was able to morph with the Dino Thunder powers, if she couldn't morph with her others, then it was just useless.

"Tommy, are you sure that you will be able to work at the school with the information that you know? Principal Randall might come after you if she figures out that you are one of the rangers," Hayley said, as Tommy shook his head that he could deal with it. He could not leave his job, that was just too suspicious compared to everything else that he had going on around him.

"He will never do that, that paycheck is all we have," Kim said, as they understood. The two of them were in a tight spot with the fact that they were no longer getting money from the dojo. They could not work there due to the fact that they had to get everything ready to deal with Mesogogg. Tommy had cut back his schedule again to only one class and that was barely enough to keep him in his best condition, although he did spar with Charlie during his planning period, which happened to be his English class, but Amanda understood it every once in awhile. "It'll all work out. Are we ready for me to try morphing again?"

"I guess, but I'm going to go get the baby swing," Tommy said, handing Angie over to Kim.

He would be needed down there in case she fainted again, which was a distinct possibility considering what had happened lately. Her body had to get used to the reintroduction of the powers which was going to be rough on her. He had never tried to keep them from overtaking him, but she had, had to do that and he could only imagine what the reintroduction was doing to her whole body.

"You know Tanya doesn't like this at all. Don't you?" Hayley asked as Kim looked over at her and nodded her head.

Their choices, however, did not go through Tanya. This was what was best for the team and they didn't need Kim fainting the first time she went out into a battle. So, they had to bend the rules with this area in their life and just hope for the best.

"Of course, but there is not much I can do. I have to be ready for whatever comes at me, whenever it comes at me," Kim said as Tommy walked back down the stairs with the baby swing in tow. He was seriously thinking about just leaving it in the basement, but that could be discussed later, right now they had ranger issues to deal with.

"Go ahead Kim, I'll catch you if you fall," Tommy said as Kim morphed and then looked over at Tommy. She didn't look like she was completely comfortable, but she did stay on her feet for a few seconds before falling over into his awaiting arms. He hated when this happened to her.

"This sucks Tommy. I can barely hold myself up for a few seconds. How am I supposed to fight these creatures?" Kim asked, as Tommy de-morphed her and she woke up nestled against him. She knew what she mentally had to do to keep herself from using her powers some times and that was affecting her now. She just hoped that she would be able to pull the mental block off before she was called out to fight.

"Hey, we expected this and I know that you'll be alright when we have to fight. Remember that these powers are much stronger than our Dino Thunder powers," Tommy said, not forcing her to stand up or even move. They didn't like seeing her react so badly to the powers, but they knew that it was likely to happen. She had, had to lay off for so long and there were risks to deal with not using any powers for so long, while having them running around inside of her.

"But I should still be able to do this and not faint, Tommy," Kim said, as Alpha stepped in to try to explain it better and to keep the two of them from getting into a shouting match. They had both been a little bit touchy since they had started losing sleep and since they knew that Mesogogg was making a real attempt to fight them again.

"Kim, your body is still adapting to the new powers and Angie. It may take awhile to become comfortable with them again," Alpha said as Kim stood up and brushed herself off before she went over to look at the page that Alpha had pulled up on the computer. She didn't like what she saw there, but she knew that she would have to deal with it at sometime and she would rather deal with it sooner than later.

"How long will it be before I'm back to normal?" Kim asked as she settled into Tommy's chair and he placed both of his hands on her shoulders and gently massaged them to try to decrease her stress. They had, had other things that had hit them this hard, but this somehow seemed worse to them. They rarely had things go wrong with their ranger powers and it was something that was hard to figure out how to deal with.

"I don't know. I can conduct some tests to see if there is anything that we can do to change everything, but I am not sure that it will help you any," Alpha said as Kim nodded her head that she agreed, although Tommy did not agree with it at all. The test would probably drain her more than anything else already had and they did not need that right now.

"I don't want you to do this," Tommy stated as Kim looked up at him. He wanted what was best for her, but this had to be done, they didn't really have a choice about the matter.

"It needs to be done and I'll be fine, don't worry about me," Kim said walking off with Alpha so he could conduct the tests that were needed.

"She's right Tommy," Hayley said, as Tommy watched Kim and she knew that they knew what they were doing. Tommy was just a constant worrier when it came to his wife, which was sweet until things had to be done and then it became annoying to deal with.

"I know she is, but that's not something I want her to do. We have Angie now and I don't want her to be too drained to take care of her," Tommy said, as he knew that he couldn't necessarily wake up all night if she was still downstairs, as Principal Randall expected him to show up at school tomorrow and be able to teach something that resembled a lesson.

"Tommy, Kim knows that, but she has some things that she has to do to make sure that nothing will happen that might cause her to be killed. There is no use in her risking things that much," Hayley said, as Kim walked back into the command center's main room. Alpha's test had not been very invasive, but she could only hope that they would be conclusive or she would have to undergo more tests.

"And I'm fine right now. Nothing will happen, yet. It just depends on what we have to do to get my powers back to normal," Kim said as Tommy gave her a hug. The little act that Kim was putting on for Hayley and Alpha was not getting past him. He knew that once the two of them were gone that she would fall down and let everything go.

"I know, now I'm hungry so if you don't want to fix supper, I'm going to go upstairs and do that," Tommy said as Alpha and Hayley gave him a curious glance before he walked out of the room.

Kim was surprised that he volunteered to fix supper, but she was not going to stop him from doing that. She was too tired to really try to fix anything edible and she knew he would be able to take care of supper.

"Well, I'm going to go on up there. Whenever those results come in just tell me," Kim said, as she picked the sleeping Angie up and took her upstairs, so she could be situated in her crib.

"Hey, Beautiful, you really alright?" Tommy asked, as she collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs and watched him place some steaks in the oven. He then joined her at the table so they could talk, which was something they had not been able to do this morning.

Angie had been fussy and he had, had to get out of the house earlier than normal, so he could catch up on what had been going on at the high school while he was gone. He had not liked most of the things that he had heard from Dennis, but it had been going normal, except for the little remark about Principal Randall's odd absence.

"No, but I have to get used to my body feeling like this again. It seems like my powers left me while I was pregnant and now that they are back, I have to readjust to having them. It's so weird Tommy, I've never dealt with something like this before," Kim said, as she switched the baby monitor on and looked over at him, hoping for some sort of explanation. She didn't really expect that he would know what had caused it, but he would at least have some words of encouragement or flat out lies that would make her feel better.

"It was more like I was using them when you were still pregnant, at least that is what I think it might have been. I felt stronger every time that I morphed then," Tommy said, as Kim gave him a bewildered glance before trying to comprehend it.

She had remembered the power and the possible transferal of powers between the two of them, but she didn't think he would admit to something like this. He really had been afraid that she would have morphed, although him taking up most of her powers would not stop her if she had, had to for her own safety and he should have known that.

"So, have you given them back to me yet?" Kim asked, as he peered over at her and he thought about that conscious decision. He had let go of his powers at the same time she did, but he could not remember making a conscious decision to give them back to her, until now.

"I thought I had, but I never made a conscious decision to give them back to you," Tommy said, as she looked down at her communicator. It was glowing and he got the feeling that the powers had gone back into her hands and he knew that for sure once she looked up and smiled.

"Didn't know that you would be the one to decide this for me. What powers will you hold back from me the next time I'm pregnant?" Kim asked with a smile as Tommy laughed. The stress from everything else was getting to them some, although they had been through worse. They just had to be able to find some comedy in every situation, even if it was not hilarious. "That's not funny, Tommy!"

"Yes it is, because I've always depended on you to draw powers from and to think that I've been the one holding you back lately," Tommy said, as Kim watched him stand up to get the food out of the oven. It surprised her that he had volunteered to make supper after a day at work, but she figured he had worse news for her than she expected.

"Did you have a bad day, Tommy?" Kim asked while he moved things onto the table and turned around so she would not see the look on his face.

"Yeah, I really did. I wanted to be home with you and I couldn't teach my classes, no matter how hard I tried. My mind kept wandering away. It kept on coming back home," Tommy said, as she looked over at him, wondering why he was so honest tonight. He had been sleep deprived before, but he had never acted like this before.

"I'm sorry, but you have to work. You don't have much of choice about that paycheck," Kim said, getting up to fix her own plate of food and then heard a gurgle through the baby monitor.

"She's fine Kim," Tommy said, to keep her from running up the stairs and checking on Angie. Tonight he needed her to be down there and listen to him, he was completely drained right now and he was upset. He didn't think he would be upset the first time he left them alone, but he was and he couldn't help it. "Now, I know that I don't want to talk about anything else that is ranger related tonight. I'm stressed enough without hearing anymore bad news."

"Well, I say that we eat in the living room and maybe there will be something good on t.v., that doesn't deal with us," Kim said, as she picked up her plate and walked into the living room, with him right behind her.

They settled in and actually watched a movie for the first time in about four months, without worrying too much. Kim went upstairs a few times to check on Angie, but she was sleeping soundly tonight. He was happy to just have her in his presence and when they went upstairs, he was surprised at the way the conversation turned.

"Tommy," Kim said, softly as she walked in from the bathroom to see him standing over Angie's crib, with one hand gently playing with her fingers, as she reached out and held one of his. He looked so torn up about something and she just couldn't tell what it was. She hated seeing him like this and he was not too willing to let his mood change.

"Yeah," Tommy said. He felt her hand on his shoulder, as he reached around her and held her as tightly as he could with one arm, while watching Angie. He loved her and he didn't know how he was going to be able to handle what laid ahead of them. It had hurt him to be at school today, how was he going to deal with being away long enough to defeat Mesogogg?

"What's going on?" Kim asked, as he looked down at her and felt that she was worried about him. She never liked seeing him like this and he knew that it was in his best interest to be completely honest with her, right away or she would pull the answer out of him.

"Kim, I'm worried. I'm worried about you. I'm worried about Angie. I'm worried about everything that is going on," Tommy whispered, as he was afraid to wake Angie and he felt Kim reach up and cup his face in her hands.

"Handsome, it's alright. I don't blame you. I'd be worried if I had the same responsibilities that you do," Kim said as he looked down at her and gave her a kiss. He felt his own worry being matched by hers and he knew that he loved her more now than before. He didn't know how it came into being, but he felt it, no matter what he had believed a few weeks ago.

"I love you, Beautiful," Tommy said as he released her from his kiss and looked down at Kim, who seemed to be realizing how much it was really hurting him. She thought she had figured out how bad his day was, but it seemed to have been much harder.

"I love you too," Kim said, as she grabbed his other hand and pulled him towards the bed. She wanted him to have some comfort and the most that she could give to him was a chance to snuggle with her right now, as she was exhausted and restricted.

"Kimberly, don't ever forget that I love you," Tommy muttered into her hair before he drifted off to sleep and she lay there awake for several more minutes, thinking about what he had said to her. He seemed to think that his time left on Earth was limited, but she knew that she couldn't deal with that thought on her own and thus fell into a fitful sleep.

AN: Thanks for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter! Please feel free to review!


	12. Old Buddies

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Going Back to Work_

_Kim's POV_

I'm afraid that I will not have many more peaceful afternoons alone with Angie and Tommy with the way that things are going right now. The battles are now occurring on a daily basis and Tommy has had to fight in several of them in order to keep the rangers from falling under the pressure that Mesogogg is putting on them. It is a lot worse than it has been in years around here and the morale is starting to fade, which is to be expected. I just hope that it does not get so bad that they think about quitting the fight, we can't afford to lose any of them now, when things are about to get so bad.

I don't know how much longer it will be before he calls me in, as I am now able to fight, from a medical standpoint, although I could have gone out sooner. Tanya released me a few days ago, although it was with a warning that came out sounding like a genuine threat from her. She wanted to make sure that I knew exactly what I was asking my body to do so soon after having a baby and I knew what I was asking, even if she didn't like to hear it. She didn't have much of a choice but to let me off of restrictions, although I know that it hurts her to not be able to be out here helping us. We knew that all of this would happen, but it is becoming rough to understand why Mesogogg has decided to force the issue now instead of at an earlier time, when he did have an advantage becausewe were down a ranger.

"Dr. O, we need your help," Conner said into his communicator and within seconds Tommy landed next to him, still dressed in his karate gi and looking rather irritated with the way that Mesogogg was dealing with the rangers. He was becoming desperate and Tommy knew that desperate times often called for desperate measures.

Tommy immediately went into battle mode, without bothering to morph, as he knew that he confused his own rangers every time that he morphed into the white ranger. There had been a few times when Trent had given him these odd looks, but Trent was getting more used to seeing the other white ranger there, as it had happened to be Tommy's signature color first, although he had never mentioned that to Trent. Tommy got the feeling that Trent wouldn't take that idea too well and he was just going to keep quiet about that particular fact. Trent had enough hanging over his head as it was, with him knowing that his father was Mesogogg.

"Conner, no need to yell. I get the point. Now, where's the monster?" Tommy asked, as he looked around and then saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eyes. Before he knew what had hit him, he was knocked to the ground and was looking to see what type of monster had caused it. They had figured out exactly how much he was protected without his wonderful powers and he was going to have to morph soon, in order to protect himself. He looked around to see who had done that and when he saw who it was, he was not pleased with the thoughts that crossed his mind. He just prayed that it was not who he thought it was and that it was someone new. He could deal with someone new better than this creature that still haunted his dreams at times. "Well, I found out what it can still do."

"Nice to see you again, Tommy. Your little rangers are no match for me," Goldar said, as Tommy truly looked over at him for the first time, and swore under his breath. This was something that he had feared since he had come back into his ranger work.

He thought that he had dealt with Goldar for the last time in his life when they had vanquished Rita and Zedd from the moon, years ago. He was, obviously wrong about that, but he had seen weirder things happen to all of the rangers. In some ways, he would rather deal with this group than any other, as they did know the most about them, but that was a double edged sword. Goldar and all of Lord Zedd's help knew just as much about them as well, which scared him, especially if Goldar picked up that Kim was weak. He knew exactly how to get to Tommy and he would, at any cost, including Kim if it was necessary. He didn't know if that was something he could deal with too well.

"Dr. O, are you alright?" Kira asked, as he stood up to face Goldar. The younger rangers had no clue who that was and the history that was shared between the two of them, all they knew was that he seemed to be a horrible monster, with a hell of an attitude.

Kira noticed him reach for communicator and then stop, it seemed like he was tempted to call in more back up. As if he knew something that they didn't about this person. Her assumption, happened to be right, although she had no clue how she had been able to guess it.

He didn't particularly want to have to call his wife in, but he might not have the luxury of leaving her at home much longer. He knew Kim was watching from the Command Center and he could only hope that she was preparing herself for all of this. She knew that with Lord Zedd and Rita coming back into the picture, that he would not have much of a choice of keeping her out. He didn't want the younger rangers to have to deal with a monster that had originally come after just them and no one else. It didn't seem to be their responsibility in his mind.

"I'm fine, but you need to handle the tryadrones. I'll take care of Goldar. He has nothing to do with you," Tommy muttered, as Kim watched on from the command center staring, in shock and awe, at the display screen. She knew that he was close to calling her in, none of the others knew how to deal with Goldar, and he didn't want to teach them how to do that on a moment's notice. It really couldn't be done, if the truth were known. He, however, could not stay unmorphed much longer and was forced to morph, as Goldar sent another blast towards him, for his own protection. Goldar did not care what it took to take him out and he knew that he and Jason were two of the rangers that Goldar had always wished to defeat, but he had never managed to accomplish that feat. He was now going to try that more than anything else in this world and it scared Kim to know that there was another person after her husband. "It's morphin' time, white ranger, power up!"

"Be ready for him to call me in. It is about to get really ugly out there," Kim said, as Alpha looked over at her in complete surprise. He just thought that Tommy would call in to tell them that Goldar was back, but she thought otherwise and she seemed to be confident in her thoughts.

Tommy had never been comfortable around Goldar, not after the multiple times that he had been turned evil by him and Kim would have his back out there in a way that the younger rangers would not. Her knowledge was what he wanted there with him and the younger rangers would soon know everything that Kim and Tommy did, but that still did not make him certain that they would be able to help him as much as she could. Kim and all of the other veteran rangers had spent years fighting against Goldar and this was why he needed their help during the final battle. Although they had not known that Lord Zedd and Rita had agreed to help Mesogogg until a few moments ago and it made him feel uneasy. What other secrets did they not know about?

"Dr. O, now isn't that just so cute. I just love your new nickname, makes you seem older. I can only guess that means you are weaker," Goldar said with an evil laugh as he looked at the white ranger who was certainly glaring him down behind his helmet. He knew how to push Tommy's buttons and he was going to try to do that in any way that he could.

"You don't know who you're dealing with Goldar. I'm not the same man I was ten years ago," Tommy said, as he knew that he had changed more than most people could imagine since he had graduated from high school.

He could still fight, but he no longer cared to be nice about it, although Kim still encouraged him to be nice as long as he could. They were going to leave them alone or they were going to be destroyed from the way that his mind was working. There were no more little peace treaties that would send them to other planets; he could not afford doing politically correct bull crap right now. If they did not defeat these monsters, then they might have to live with them for the rest of their life and they couldn't do that. They had other things that honestly should have taken priority to being out there fighting.

"So, you decided there would be no pink ranger to bring you bad luck this time? I'm surprised. It never seemed to stop you before now. Are your memories finally haunting you?" Goldar asked with a maniacal laugh.

Trent and the other rangers did a double take at hearing that one come from the creature's mouth. How did this creature know that Tommy had, had problems with a particular pink ranger in the past? They wouldn't have known that if Tommy and Kim had not told them and they were certain that no amount of research would actually tell anyone that about two rangers. He had to be a blast from the past, but if only they could figure out which time period that he was from. Tommy had been a ranger against so many things, that they were not sure if the pink ranger that the monster was talking about really was Kim.

"No, they actually bring me good luck now. You see, things have changed while you were gone. The pink rangers actually like me again," Tommy said, as he knew that he had won many more battles with a particular ranger by his side and he was going to bring her in, although he didn't really want to. He just knew that he had to do that. He knew that she was ready for all of this and it was time that Mesogogg knew that they had six fully prepared rangers, although he would not know about the other nine rangers until it was time for the last battle. That was when they would bombard Mesogogg with the forces they had and they could only hope that it would work to their advantage, if it didn't, they were going to be in deep trouble. They didn't have any other reserves to dig into and he might have unlimited reservess. "Pinkie, I could use some help out here."

"Alright," Kim's voice said over his communicator.

Goldar thought that the voice sounded vaguely familiar, although it had been years since he had been around the rangers and most of them were completely new to him, as their fighting styles were less honed than Tommy's. But he had been thrilled to hear that Tommy was still around, it made him want to come back even more. This was the one person that had always held him back from domination and now he was certain that he could defeat him, without his loyal legion of rangers.

He could see the smug actions in the white ranger's body language, as he waited for the pink ranger to teleport in and he prayed that she had morphed before she came. He did not want Goldar to know who she was right away, especially with a baby at home, waiting on them. Goldar was sure to know about Tommy being a father, but he might not know that Kim was the mother of the baby. Lord Zedd always did his research and he was sure that he knew that about Angie and Tommy could only pray he didn't know about Kim. He didn't want them going after her right away, it would just be too much for him to take.

"So, you're his pink ranger. Did he ever get over Kimberly or are you just another replacement?" Goldar asked menacingly, as Kim landed next to Tommy and he then dodged a blast from Goldar while Kim glared at him.

He was trying to play to the weaknesses that he had known about Tommy, but those weaknesses no longer existed, although there were some new weaknesses that he could exploit, but he did not know about them. Lord Zedd trusted Mesogogg to inform them of the issues that were going on with the rangers and he had chosen to not talk about Kim or Angie.

"Of course not. Why would he want to do that?" Kim asked with a grin under her helmet as Goldar looked over at her with a confused look spread upon his face, before he was hit by Tommy's own power blast.

Kim had always been a good distraction with Goldar, but they were both surprised that it still worked. Goldar didn't even know who she was, but she was sure that it would not stay that way for much longer. He would figure out who she was by the way she fought and use it to every possible advantage that he could find. She just hoped he didn't know too much about their life now, out side of their ranger work.

"Who is that?" Kira asked as she defeated a tryadrone and watched Kim and Tommy tag team against the gold, winged, demented, creature.

Tommy threw Goldar down before Kim blasted him with a weapon that they had never seen before. No one had seen Kim or Tommy be this aggressive in a very long time and their fellow rangers had no clue what had gotten into them, but Kim and Tommy knew things that they did not know. Lord Zedd and Rita had obviously been called in to help Mesogogg and that meant that all of the help that they had was going to come back to haunt the rangers now. Why hadn't they destroyed them when they had had the chance?

"I don't know, Kira, but we just better stick to the tryadrones like Dr. O said. I don't think he wants us to mess with whatever that is," Conner said, as he was nailed by a tryadrone before seeing Kim be thrown in the air, which he was sure made Dr. O mad. She couldn't take a lot of serious injuries yet and they all had been told to keep an eye on her by Dr. O. He, however, seemed ready to take care of it. "Oh boy."

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked as Kim fell to the ground next to him and scrambled back to her feet before she attacked Goldar again.

Tommy was surprised that Kim was able to fight at all, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to see this type of reaction. If she had fainted because of the powers that were going on inside of her, he would have been slightly shocked, but this was just wonderful to see. She had proved that they had made the right choice to give her, her powers earlier than what the doctors would have liked and he was glad that Billy had been able to talk her into it now.

"I'm good," Kim said positioning herself behind him and looking over to see an invisaportal open, which could only mean one thing. Reinforcements were now coming in to help Goldar and the tryadrones.

But why in the world did Mesogogg have to send someone now? They were just getting an advantage over Goldar and now Mesogogg decided to bring in other people. He sure wanted to see what the rangers could deal with and he was going to be surprised when Kim and Tommy were able to break away from each other and handle the other problem. They knew that their jobs had been intensified, in the last several minutes and they had to step up.

"Lil' bit, I missed you. Seems that you have already started to shape back up since having that baby. I'm surprised that they even let you come out to play," Richard said, as Tommy looked between Kim and Richard before she started walking towards him.

She never wanted to see the man again or even hear two words he had to say to her and she planned on making that very clear to him right now. He had scared her when he came to her classroom a few weeks ago and she wanted to make him fear her wrath. She couldn't do anything then, she was pregnant with Angie and was not risking her, but now she had to make a point. She did not want things to get out of hand, because she knew that Tommy would step in and that would leave the younger rangers dealing with Zeltrax or Goldar.

"Kim, no," Tommy said, as she ignored his command and sent a fire bulb towards him being thoroughly pissed off about him showing up on the battle scene.

Tommy had hoped she would have left that weapon alone for just a little bit longer, as they did not want them to find some sort of protection against it, as it had always been a battle winner. She, however, felt that they would not find any sort of protection against it, as they had never been able to after all of the years that Tommy had used it. She also knew that Goldar would recognize that weapon, which might make him think that she was a little bit older than the rest of the rangers.

"I can take care of myself, Tommy. You focus on Goldar and I'll focus on Richard. We have to get the hell out of here soon," Kim said, as Richard stumbled to his feet and he could only imagine the anger that was floating around in her eyes behind her trademark pink helmet.

He had seen her when she was mad before and he knew that was how she felt right now without a single doubt in his mind. Mesogogg had sent him, in hopes to play around with Tommy's mind, although it seemed that he was just going to get himself hurt by doing what he asked. Mesogogg just wouldn't listen to what anyone told him to not do, even if it did wind up leaving him under manned.

"That's Kim?" Goldar asked as he had remembered a much more timid fighter that hid behind Jason and then Tommy which was a shame considering everything she had been able to do with the skills that they taught her. It was more of a show than anything else.

If she had not been as timid back then, he might not have been willing to come back against these rangers, although Lord Zedd and Rita only knew about Tommy being back for this team of rangers. He was going to have a lot to report back to them, as it seemed that they had gotten into this battle without knowing the full scale of everything that was going on and all of the rangers that they were going to have to deal with.

"You didn't know that?" Richard asked, as he had assumed Mesogogg had told everyone about the older rangers that were back on duty.

It now seemed that he had tricked them into coming back by using Tommy as a lure and left all of the other rangers out. He knew that Tommy was a wonderful lure to get help, but he also knew that the more experienced rangers struck fear in some of the monster's hearts. They knew things about the ranger that would make their skin crawl with chill bumps from fear and that was not something that they wanted to deal with.

"I only came back for him. I didn't know that she was part of the deal as well. You have taken on too many rangers for your own good," Goldar said, pointing at Tommy, as Tommy looked over at him and laughed. Goldar also knew that with Kim backing Tommy, his chances of defeating him had just lessened dramatically.

Some would have been scared by those words, but he knew exactly what Goldar meant and Goldar was just going to love seeing Jason come back into the battle. The two of them would fight so much that none of the others would have to worry about dealing with Goldar. They loathed each other and it was only a matter of time before they saw each other again. Tommy just knew that he was going to have to give Jason some sort of warning about the fact that Goldar had resurfaced as a resident evil that they were going to have to deal with, for the time being.

"I didn't know that you had a thing for him. Maybe you were looking for a reason to get to see him in spandex again," Kim said with a snicker in her voice, as the dino rangers looked at her and laughed at hearing that. It was funny that she was a mother, but she could still spit out lines like that and get away with it. They were sure that if the monster could have blushed that he would have, but since he couldn't he settled for a disgruntled look.

"Well, pinkie, I wasn't sure that you did anymore either. You did dump him for another guy or have you forgotten that piece of information?" Goldar asked, as Tommy headed towards Goldar with Kim being restrained by Trent and Conner, who were surprised that it took both of them to do so.

They knew that she was strong, but the little woman was pulling them harder than they had ever had anyone else do, even Dr. O when they had, had to restrain him a couple of times. They could tell that Goldar had stepped on some sort of nerve. They knew that she was pissed now and would do anything to get to Goldar, if only they would let her, but one look at Tommy told them to not let her go. He was going to take care of this.

Saba was at Tommy's side and he watched as Goldar recognized the sword that Tommy was holding. Tommy had dealt him enough damage with that sword, and Goldar knew what it could do to him and he did not want to have to deal with it today. He was not sure that he was prepared to deal with it today and he could only imagine what would happen to him if they let the pink ranger loose.

"He is still here? What the hell is going on here?" Goldar asked as he saw the sword and heard some of the younger rangers let out odd squeals when they saw Saba. It was odd to see it, but that worked differently for them. They just had never seen a sword like that before and they had no clue what it did or where it had come from.

"Yes, you thought he would just ditch me," Saba said to Goldar as Kira's eyes widened under her helmet and she could only wonder what else that sword possessed, besides the fact that it talked.

"He's a nice addition to the group," Tommy said, as Goldar teleported out of the battle. Rita and Zedd were not going to like this, but they needed to know the truth as Mesogogg had left out some essential details about what and whom they were going to have to deal with while fighting.

"We'll be back," Richard said as he quickly left, knowing he was truly alone and they would do harm to him if they got the chance. He did not want to risk that right away and he was sure that Mesogogg was not going to be very pleased with them. They had done nothing but get their butts beat and that was not what he had hoped would happen after so much promise in their first full scale battle.

"How did the two of you do that?" Kira asked as they walked over to where Kim and Tommy stood. Experience was not it, it seemed to be something else, something that they could not find a way to comprehend unless they were Kim and Tommy.

"I don't know, in a zone, I guess," Kim responded as that was what they had always said to the others when they asked why there were able to work together so well and Jason soon understood after he had the same thing happen in some battles. When they got into that zone, there was nothing that could distract them, except a major explosion or some other type of damage and even that didn't do the trick some times. They just concentrated on fighting and that took all of their energy, it just seemed as if instinct took over in ways that no one else would believe.

"How can you be in a zone? You're fighting some new monster that we have never seen before. That was just crazy," Conner said as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance behind their helmets before they tried to figure out how to explain who Goldar was and where he came from. It was not exactly easy to admit that they had not totally obliterated every monster that they had come across and now these rangers were getting to meet their old enemy, at a rather shitty time.

"We need to go back to the command center before we can try to explain that one to you," Tommy said, as he looked around to see if there was anyone who might try to tape the rangers teleporting away from a battle and then he left, knowing that they would soon follow.

"Tommy, Zedd and Rita are back," Alpha said, as Tommy nodded his head, after de-morphing and he pulled at a few strands of his hair before looking over at Kim who understood all of it.

They didn't want to have to tell their friends about all of this, as they would not like it, but they had no choice. They had to be prepared for what was to come and he knew that they would not want to see these people again; he didn't want to have to see them again. It didn't seem normal and it even seemed low, for the evils that they had fought. It was going to be enough to deal with going up against the people that worked for Mesogogg and now they had to worry about Lord Zedd again. It just seemed as if things were starting to be stacked up against them now.

"I'm afraid so and I personally think that Zedd came back to defeat the me, but they didn't know that it wasn't just me. They didn't know about Kim at all, which surprises me. They were tricked into this mission, if I'm right about my thoughts. Zedd will be happier if he thinks that he will have the chance to defeat more rangers that they started going after and it is going to make him fight harder," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head, while the dino rangers stared at them, wondering what they were talking about. They all seemed to understand what was going on, so why were they left out in the cold about who these people were?

"Who are Rita and Zedd and why are you talking about them like they are family friends that turned out bad?" Kira asked, as Tommy gave her a sympathetic look and then turned to Kim. She was the one that might explain it the best to them without becoming mad about all of it. He could not, as he had been controlled by Rita at one time and speaking the woman's name just made his blood boil most days and this was one of those days. He didn't have the control he needed to explain it and he was sure that she knew it as well.

"Kim, you want to try explaining this one?" Tommy asked, as she nodded her head and then walked over to Tommy's computer.

She knew Tommy had pictures of their old enemies on there somewhere, but she had to explain to them who they were and what they had to do with them now. It didn't matter that they had been powerful years ago, from what she had seen, they had gained more powers since they had left the Earth. That worried her, but she did not plan to tell them that tidbit of information, as these kids were going to be bombarded by all of this information anyway. They just needed to know that basics and they could find out the specifics after the shock had worn off.

"Okay, here are some pictures of Rita Replusa, Lord Zedd, and their cohorts," Kim said pointing to them and then tried to begin with her explanation. It was going to be hard to get them to understand, but hopefully they would get the general idea of what these creatures had done to them and then they would learn more about them as they fought them, although they didn't want them to be the ones to do that. "These are the people that we fought when we first became rangers. They were forced to leave the Earth before the Zeo Rangers came into power, although they have re-emerged multiple times to challenge the rangers. The problem is that they were never completely defeated by any group of rangers. Goldar, the one you saw today, is like your Zeltrax, he's their right hand man, and they go to him for most of the tough jobs. He loves to pick on us, especially Tommy and Jason, which will cause some odd things to happen when he sees the two of them. He will not be as hard as you think; we'll take care of him. He's our problem, not yours, but if he comes after you, you have to fight. We can not afford to have you back away from him or he will begin going after you as well."

"So these are some of your old enemies?" Ethan asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then walked over to see how bad a bruise on Kim's shoulder was, as it peeked out from under the straps of her shirt. It made him worry to see how bad it was and to see it was even there, but he had seen much worse on her before from having to deal with Goldar. He just hoped that nothing else would be this bad for quite awhile. She might not be hurting from the injury right now, but she could be tomorrow morning and he didn't like dealing with that. "Why are they after you now?"

"We don't know, but it could be worse than this. Actually, it has been worse than this in the past," Tommy said, as he was glad that the younger rangers were not having to deal with them directly.

It was far too much to have to deal with four of them and he was fairly certain they would not be able to take learning much more about them today. Kim and Tommy both couldn't shake the feeling of some of the things that had happened at the end of Lord Zedd's reign and they just prayed that it did not do anything to them again.

"How could it possibly be any worse?" Conner asked, as Kim looked over at Tommy and hoped that he would give into her pleading eyes and tell them what Goldar had done in the past to him. She did not want to explain it to them, but she knew that he could at least give them a look into their past and warn them about what could happen to them if they were not careful around these creatures.

"He could have tried to make one of us evil. He managed to do that several times to me and even some of the other rangers. If he had done that today, then this place would have been destroyed and all of you would be in danger. We do not need something like that to happen right now. We all need to keep a watch out for it," Tommy said, grimly, although he was very uncomfortable admitting how easy it was for them to be turned evil by these creatures. It seemed that they would be able to fight it, but their powers gave them no protection when these creatures tried to turn them evil.

"Well, let's just be glad that didn't happen," Alpha said, as they turned to see that the robot had pulled up all of the information that he had on Lord Zedd and Rita. He seemed to hold the same feeling that Kim and Tommy did about this evil and they had the feeling that they did not want to deal with it now, but they were being forced to do that. "Tommy, I suggest that you and Kim go on upstairs and see how things are going with Hayley and Angie. I can finish explaining all of this to them."

"Alright," Kim said, forcing herself to stand up from her chair and walk up the stairs. Hayley had taken Angie up there while the battle was going on, as the sound in the command center became deafening when the battle hit certain points.

She did not want to wake the sleeping baby and she hoped that Kim and Tommy would understand her reasoning. It was not as safe upstairs, but it was quiet and that was what was more important, as they all did not want her first memory to be of seeing a monster in the command center, although it did seem to be most fitting for her. Her parents were rangers and it always seemed that that would follow them and their family for the rest of their lives.

"Alpha, what else are they not telling us?" Ethan asked as soon as they heard the trapdoor close. They knew that their mentors had decided to hold something back but none of them knew what it was and they were not sure that they wanted to know the truth about it.

"Lord Zedd and Rita Replusa were once two of the most feared villains on the face of the Earth, but they were banished by a group of teens, years before there were Power Rangers on this Earth. Then Zordon and I came here, to prevent them from ever completely ruling Earth again. We went several centuries without anyone discovering where Lord Zedd and Rita had respectively been sent. Rita was released first and that was when we called on the very first rangers. As everything progressed further, we eventually needed another ranger and that was when Tommy came into the picture. They had a lot of stress on their shoulders and when Kim left, she felt more stress about what she was leaving behind than what she was going to. Zordon blames the stress that Lord Zedd had on them for their break up and many of the other rangers believed that once they heard it from Zordon, even Tommy did once he was able to get over the pain. Now that they are back, I am worried that things will be rough between them for a little while. They do not want history to repeat itself and they will do anything to keep that from happening," Alpha said as they looked at him and then sat down on the couch, not caring who they sat by. They had known about the break up, but now they weren't happy to hear about how stressful the fighting was against this evil that they had never seen before. It was going to be a completely new experience for them now and they had to admit that to themselves.

"I can't believe that," Kira said, as she grabbed Conner's hand and then realized that it wasn't Trent, but neither of them moved away from each other. They just felt as if they shouldn't do this, but Ethan and Trent only gave them an odd glance before letting themselves agree that this was indeed happening. Trent and Kira had decided to take a break a few days after Angie was born, things had been rocky for quite awhile between them, but neither had thought that they would be able to move on quickly, although Kira did not call this moving on in the least bit. Conner and she had become friends after they became rangers and it seemed as if they were still friends and only friends, except for a few changes that Ethan and Trent had noticed. They just wondered how long it would take Kira and Conner to notice it. "You don't think it will happen again, do you?"

"I don't know," Alpha said, honestly, as he teetered over to the computer to read out what things needed to be fixed on them.

He had already taken a good look at Kim and Tommy, but neither of them have anything that was seriously wrong with their powers. They could deal without some of their powers, as they truly did conserve their energy in every way that they could. They had long been preparing themselves for a battle that was going to take everything out of them and for now they just had to conserve all that they had within them, until the right time came.

"It's over?" Hayley asked, as Kim walked into the nursery and Tommy soon walked in behind her with a look of slight concern on his face.

Hayley could see the battle scars appearing on some areas of their bodies, but they did seem to be all right, for the most part. That was something that she was truly thankful for, as she knew that there was not much else that they could do about this situation. They had all wondered what Kim and Tommy would do when Mesogogg decided to come back, but all they knew for certain was that they were doing the best that they could and that was all they could ask from them, especially since they had a child.

"Yeah, and Lord Zedd and Rita have returned, too," Tommy said as Kim sat down in the rocking chair and started rocking back and forth, trying to calm herself down.

He was worried about them coming back because of what they did to them last time, but absolutely nothing was going to happen if he had it his way. He had too much to lose if he felt himself being pulled towards fighting and ignoring her, he loved her and he loved his child. He could not lose them to stupidity.

"Oh and that's not a good thing, is it?" Hayley asked, as she had gotten some information from Billy about the former evils that they had faced and the fact that some were still around, but she had never imagined that any would want to come back to fight them again. Most had willingly left after they were defeated, as they knew that it was only a matter of time before they were blasted into oblivion and that was something that they wanted to avoid.

"No, but we'll take care of it. This is no worse than Nicarni-Aso and I know that we will be able to figure out a way to fight both of them, somehow," Tommy said, as he noticed Kim was being very quiet about all of it and hoped that it was just because she was tired from the battle and not the fact that she was thinking about Zedd and Rita. Neither of them needed the added stress of knowing that they were back, but they especially didn't need it now. He would have rather them come back after Mesogogg was gone, but Mesogogg had decided to recruit helpers and there was nothing that they could do to change what he had done.

"Well, you can do whatever you have to. Billy had another job interview today and I'm meeting him after he gets done," Hayley said as Kim looked over at her and smiled, as she knew that Billy was desperately trying to do all of this.

He wanted to be with her, but it was so hard for him to just leave everything and pray that he would be able to find a job and a house in Reefside. That was not in his nature, he liked for things to be planned out and he did that as long as he was able to, although they were not sure how much longer he could stand the way that things were. It was just too hard on him and he felt that his own human limits were being tested in ways that he had never thought that they would be tested.

"Well, tell him I hope he gets the job. I guess we'll see you the next time that there's a battle," Kim said, as Hayley hurried out of the room and they heard her run down the stairs to go see Billy. They had all thought that Hayley would get increasingly worried as the battles became worse and it turned out that they were right, for once, about Hayley's mood swings. She was the most unpredictable out of all of them, but they were glad that they had finally been able to figure part of her out. "You want some supper?"

"Are you asking me or her?" Tommy asked, as Kim looked up at him and then proceeded to feed Angie while Tommy laid down on the floor and took a nap. He had, had to leave the dojo during the middle of a class to come help the rangers and he was sure that Rocky had been able to think up some sort of excuse, although he had been able to give him no warning this time. They had done enough lying in their life that they had things come across their minds at all times that they could use for times like this. He would just get his car tomorrow, as Kim needed to go into the dojo for a little while in the morning and it was on his way to school. He just hoped that no one asked how he got home without coming back to the dojo for his car. "Kim, I'm tired."

"Well, I guess she'll just stay with me then," Kim said, as she straightened back up from going to place Angie on his chest. She then turned to go towards the stairs and downstairs so that they would be able to have supper sometime tonight. He reached to grab her ankle to get her to turn around, but he accidentally tripped her instead, but she somehow managed to make herself fall backwards and landed on his lower stomach.

"Oh," Tommy groaned as he placed an arm around her to keep her from continuing backwards and she looked down at him with confusion in her eyes. Why had he tried to do that?

"Serves you right," Kim said, as Tommy continued to wince in pain.

"I didn't mean to trip you," Tommy said with a smile that came out as more of a grimace. He knew that he would never do that again, as he was paying for it dearly.

"You'll survive, now do you want me to take her downstairs or leave her with you?" Kim asked, as she stood up from her position and looked down at him.

"Leave her with me," Tommy said, as he sat up and Kim handed him Angie. "What do you have in mind?"

"Pizza, I don't really feel like cooking tonight," Kim said, as he gave her an odd look and then watched her walk out of the nursery, as calm as she could be. It had been one hell of a day to have her first battle after having Angie, but he knew that things were bound to be like this for a good while longer. They had duties to fulfill and their life, as they knew it, had come to a halt the day that they accepted this challenge.

AN: I know, it's not the best ending to a chapter, but I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter any ways. Until next time, happy reading!


	13. An Accident at the Dojo

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_An Accident at the Dojo_

_Tommy's POV_

I have to teach my advanced class this afternoon and some of them have become good enough that Rocky and I are allowing them to teach the beginner classes, with a little bit of help from one of us, if they need it. Most of them don't need any help, though. They've gotten enough experience under their belt to be able to do this accurately.

There are even a few of them that have asked to teach full time after they graduate from high school in May and they will be looking for a job to help with college. I wouldn't mind Ashley and Charlie coming back and teaching, some times, but some of the other kids would not be as appreciated. The little kids love to see Charlie come over there and if he'd teach those classes, full time, it would sure help Rocky and me, once we know that we will be fighting the final battle with Mesogogg within a few days. That battle is going to change so much in our lives and I'm not even sure if we know the full extent of it yet. We have been rangers for so long, that we don't even know how to act when we are not held under ranger duties and I don't know if I ever want to know what it is like, although it has to happen. I have to be able to have a life that is seperate from my ranger life.

"Good afternoon, Dr. O," Ashley said as he entered the dojo from his office and he was surprised that she was standing right there. She usually was with Charlie when she came in.

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen them walking together at school today, but maybe it had just been a bad day for both of them or a busy day, as he had seen it happen a few times before. It was just odd to him that they weren't talking to each other while they were at the dojo. They always had something that they needed to say to each other and it struck him as odd that they were not speaking.

"Good to see you, Ashley. Where's your better half?" Tommy asked with a smile, as Ashley turned and pointed towards the rest of his students, who were standing around, waiting for him to start their class. He was surprised that the two of them were still apart, but maybe it was worse than he thought it was. He had just thought that they had decided to take a little space from each other, as they some times did, but that didn't seem to be the case today. They never took space from each other during lessons and it seemed like that was what they wanted to happen this time. "Did the two of you have a fight?"

"It wasn't really a fight, we were just talking about college and it got a little bit heated. We both need some time to cool off," Ashley said, as Tommy walked her over to the group of boys.

She had always been accepted by the boys because of her and Charlie's friendship and to see them on the outs did not help his mood any after his day at school. He knew that the two of them had a chemistry that probably would not be broken by time or distance apart, but it was hard to explain that to an eighteen-year-old whose girlfriend might be heading to an out of state college in a couple of months. All of the thoughts that were running through his head had her breaking his heart, although Tommy doubted that would happen, unless someone truly came in and swept Ashley off her feet.

"He doesn't want you to go very far away, does he?" Tommy asked, as he imagined Kim would have been the same way if they had still been together when the two of them went off to college.

They hadn't been together, so he had never had to deal with her talking about how horrible it was going to be with them being apart. They had already had that talk when she moved to Florida and it had not been pleasant either. That was one of the few fights that they had had before she left, but they had promised that they would make it work. Well, everyone knew where that got them. He could only imagine how Charlie was feeling about them being apart or just thinking about that happening, especially if his friends were feeding him horror stories and he would have done that years ago, but he didn't anymore. Things could always get better when you least expected it.

"How'd you know?" Ashley asked as Charlie looked over at her and then looked away before she noticed, although he had not looked away quick enough for Tommy to not notice it.

Charlie wanted to talk to her, but he wasn't sure how to say what he needed to say. He was sorry that he had upset her, but he had no clue how to say that when she was still so angry with him. They had always been able to get over being angry before, but it seemed to be much harder this time. Of course, what he said had been worse than most of the other fights that they had had in the past.

"Just blame it on experience in this area. I kinda know what it looks like. I've actually been there; Kim moved across the country at the end of our junior year," Tommy said, as he stood in front of the boys and they couldn't help but guiltily look at him. They knew that they had left Ashley out, but they were not sure how to include her with Charlie being so aggravated right now. They didn't want him to be mad at them, so they choose to do whatever he seemed to want them to do and ignoring her seemed to fit the bill. Dr. O, however, did not seem to like the way they were acting at all. "Okay, we're going to go through some new maneuvers and then I'll let you test them on me and Rocky, then yourselves after you've gotten the hang of it."

"Rocky's helping you out today?" Jackson asked in shock, as they rarely went up against Rocky anymore. He, actually, couldn't remember doing that since the tournament last year.

Rocky and Tommy, generally, stuck to working with their own classes and did not try to mix their teaching styles. They both were good teachers, but once you got used to one of them, you were rarely able to deal with the other as easily as it was when they switched out classes.

"Yes," Tommy sad matter-of-factly, as he did not want them to ask anymore questions.

It was going to be bad enough when he started calling off their classes, on a regular basis, but it was going to get even worse when both of them had to start doing that to all of their classes. They had always been able to keep some classes up and running, but when they had to fight the final battle, the dojo would be shut down until it was over. They just hoped that the students would understand it and not try to find another dojo.

"What's gotten into you?" Jackson asked, as Charlie nailed him one good time and then he looked over his shoulder to see Ashley had been thrown to the ground by Rocky and was struggling to stand up. He wanted to go and let loose on Rocky for doing that to her, but he doubted that she was even able to concentrate on what had happened because of the way that he had treated her earlier today. He had just lost all of the patience that he usually had at once and this was not a good thing. He didn't know what he could say to get her to listen to him now or if she was even willing to listen to him anymore. "Not her. She's just a girl, Charlie."

"We had a fight and she's more than just a girl," Charlie said, simply, as Jackson could only shake his head. When he fought with his girlfriend, he didn't have the problem of feeling very guilty about it, because she usually started and ended it with him. To be honest, he and his girlfriend were a lot more like brother and sister with their fighting, but they usually got over it fast enough to be able to do things that they wanted to do and it didn't affect their relationship. Charlie and Ashley's fights made their whole relationship rock and there was nothing that anyone could do to change that.

"Come on, Charlie. That's normal for people to fight every once in awhile. I mean, we've seen Dr. O and his wife go at it, but they always get over it," Jackson said, as he saw Dr. O looking between the two of them and shaking his own head.

They had all imagined that it would be bad when Charlie and Ashley fought, but this was worse than they ever thought it would be. Most of them had thought that they would be able to talk it out, like they did everything else that happened to them. Now, they were all getting the feeling that Charlie had just stepped too far over the line. None of them had seen them fight, but they all were wishing that they had been a fly on the wall to see whatever had taken place, so they would be able to help them out of this problem.

"Not for us, Jackson. This is the first time that she has honestly been this mad at me since we started dating last year and I don't like it. I've never liked it when she's mad at me and don't go comparing us to Dr. O. He'll tell you the hell he's been through and I don't want to have that happen to myself," Charlie said with a sigh of frustration as Tommy walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, which made him jump about a mile. He was always on edge when he was in the dojo and he had learned to be that way, from seeing how Tommy acted here. He seemed to always be prepared for anything to happen and although the dojo was safe, it seemed that karate just made Tommy jumpy.

"It's just me, Charlie. Come on, let's talk," Tommy said, as he was not planning on letting this sit for too long. He knew that Charlie would not be able to do anything until they resolved this, so he was going to make them talk about it. Whether that was a good idea or not was up in the air, but at least they would have to say what was on their mind or they could just ignore each other forever, it was their pick. But no one could say that he didn't try to make them talk it out. "Do you want to talk to her now?"

"How did you know?" Charlie asked, as Tommy motioned for Ashley to follow him as soon as she could, which would really be up to Rocky.

Rocky had gotten the feeling that it was something like this when Ashley came to work with him instead of Charlie, as that was never a good sign with the two of them. They always worked out with each other, no matter what was going on and he had only seen them like this when they were trying not to say that they liked each other. He just hoped that Tommy knew what he was doing or this situation could become much worse over the next few days.

"I have my sources and I do have eyes too," Tommy said as Ashley came jogging up behind him and settled on the other side of Tommy, which made Charlie cringe. He had hoped that she would have walked up beside him, but she still was trying to get her brain together and understand everything that she might have to deal with. Dr. O did not seem to want to let this go on, but she was not ready for this to happen.

"Yes, Dr. O?" Ashley asked cautiously as Tommy looked from Charlie to her. He knew that she had done that on purpose, but Charlie was giving him a look that begged him to move out of the way and he was tempted to do that, just so she would see what he was seeing.

"The two of you need to talk," Tommy said, as he opened the door to Rocky's office and pushed them inside, with very little effort. He knew that this had worked with him and Kim and it was a surefire way to get them to talk, even if it did not work out well. They would at least be able to get everything off their minds and let the other know how they felt, hopefully, without any consequences. If they loved each other, they were going to find a way to work through this problem. "And don't come out until you have solved this. I mean it."

"Dr. Oliver, please," Ashley said as the door was, softly, closed in her face.

She then turned around and sank to the floor with her back against the door. She hated fighting with Charlie, but she had no clue where to start with him this time. They didn't fight often and when they did, it took them a long time to come around to each other and she was afraid that this was too soon to talk about it, but she was going to have to try.

"Ash," Charlie whispered as she whimpered quietly, but would still not look at him. He hung his head knowing what he had caused, but there was nothing more that he could think to say right now. Nothing more that would get her attention as well as that nickname. "Ash, I don't know where to start."

"You think that I do?" Ashley asked as he looked over at her and felt his heart sink as he walked over and sat down next to her. He couldn't stand it anymore, being away from her, but he only hoped that she would be willing to let him sit next to her.

"I didn't mean to get so angry with you. I just want you to stay here with me," Charlie said as she nodded her head and then looked away for a few seconds.

"Then why did you start it? You knew that you would get angry about it," Ashley said, as he reached for her hand and played with each one of her fingers, trying to think of what he needed to say to her. He didn't want to say the wrong thing or he might very well be smacked by Ashley, which was painful to experience that he never wanted to deal with again. That had happened to him when they had had a fight a few years ago and he still remembered it very well.

"Because I didn't know how else to act. You've been talking about going out of state and it hurts. I want you to stay here with me," Charlie whispered as he felt Ashley placed her head on his shoulder. It was hard to really explain all of it without him having to tell her things that he had been planning to wait for. There were so many things he was going to tell her over the next few weeks, but it seemed that he needed to do that much sooner than he wished.

"Charlie, you're a smart boy and if you want to come out with me, you can. And I'm just talking about it; I haven't decided on anything yet. My parents are pushing for it, but I think I might stay here. I just wanted you to know all of the possibilities," Ashley said.

Her parents liked Charlie but they didn't see why she wanted to stay with him so badly, there were other boys out there, although he treated her better than anyone else they knew. They had been friends for years before they dated and it seemed like they could go back to that anytime that they choose to do so. Her parents just wanted her to be able to have friends and not worry about Charlie, but Charlie was all that she wanted and no one else would do for her. She just hoped that she would be able to get her parents to understand that before she went off to college, because she honestly didn't see herself meeting anyone that was better than him.

"Why have they changed the way that they think about me?" Charlie asked, as he had practically grown up in front of them.

They knew everything about him and it seemed to him that they would be more comfortable with him than anyone else that Ashley might have wanted to date. She had dated a few guys before she settled down on him and all he could remember hearing was that they didn't want her to date any of those guys, that they just weren't meant to be with her. The two of them had both thought that her parents would have been happy to see that Charlie was who she was dating now, but it seemed that her parents were not going to like anyone that she dated. They wanted her to stay single forever and that did not seem to agree with Ashley in the least bit.

"I don't know, but they just don't want me to regret anything, although I'm happy right now. I guess they just want me to see if I can be happier with anyone else, but that would mean that I wouldn't want to date you anymore and that couldn't be further from the truth," Ashley said as they heard the door to Dr. O's office open and close.

They then saw Tommy and Kim walk to the back of his office, for some reason. They were well out of sight, but they still felt as if they were seeing something that they shouldn't ever see. It was not that Kim or Tommy was doing anything embarrassing, but this was private and it was obvious that he had forgotten about shutting them in Rocky's office, which was normal for Dr. O to do. He was not exactly known for his skills at remembering things.

"Why'd you come by?" Tommy asked, as he undid the belt that held his top closed and sat down in the chair behind his desk, casually propping his feet on top of his desk. "I thought you were going to stay at the house this afternoon."

Ashley and Charlie did not see the car seat anywhere, so the only thing they could think of was that Rocky or Ally was watching Angie in the dojo. They had seen her a few days after she was born and they had to admit that she looked a lot like Kim, but she seemed to have a mixture of their personalities, at least from the little while that she was awake. She, however, was a peaceful baby when she started becoming sleepy and they could tell Tommy and Kim where grateful for that.

"Hayley and Billy came to the house and they offered to give me a break for a little while to go get groceries and they'd watch Angie. So, I took them up on their offer. I haven't had anytime with just you lately and it's starting to get on my nerves," Kim said as Tommy gave her smile.

He knew exactly how true that statement was most evenings they were seeing at least one of the other rangers, if not more at their house, working on something that they needed to have done before they had to leave the Earth. It had become something that they expected to happen as the battles picked back up, although it made their alone time more precious to them.

They just wanted some time to be alone with each other and this was one way that they could get that time, although Tommy could almost bet that Billy had, had the full intentions of this happening. Billy knew how it made both of them calm down to be around each other and Billy wanted to keep the two of them calm as long as he could, just because of everything else that could have happened to them. Kim needed her time with Tommy and if that meant that Billy had to offer his babysitting services, then he was more than willing to do so, plus he got some more time with Hayley.

"I know, what are you hoping that we'll be able to do?" Tommy asked, as Kim walked over and sat down in his lap.

Now Ashley and Charlie definitely felt as if they shouldn't be there, but they couldn't move without being found. Dr. O would surely notice the door opening and closing and then he would kill them for listening in on their conversation, although they had not meant to do that. It was more like they were scared to death to move now and as long as this did not get any more uncomfortable then they would stay quiet and seated.

"Not what you are thinking about. I still have to wait, remember," Kim said bluntly as Tommy gave her a firm hug while Ashley covered Charlie's ears for a few seconds. She did not want him to hear anything that Kim might say that was provocative, but it was already a little bit too late for that, as he was sitting there with wide eyes. He knew that his teacher had to have had sex with his wife, but he had never imagined hearing either of them talk openly about it. They did, however, think that they were completely alone in there though.

"No fun," Tommy whispered as Kim gave him a kiss and then sat back against him, while playing with his short hair. She still wished that he would have kept it long, but she understood why he had to cut it, even if she did think that his students would respect him no matter what he looked like. He always had had this way of getting people to listen to him, even when he did have his long hair.

"Well, this isn't like my changing powers. I have no choice but to wait. No, let me rephrase that, you have no choice but to wait on this one. Tanya would kill us if we did something else against her. She about killed us when she found out that I had switched powers only a couple of days after having Angie," Kim said, as Charlie and Ashley exchanged a confused glance.

What type of powers were they talking about here? There was something going on that they did not want to have to deal with knowing about, but it seemed they were about to find out about it. They only hoped that it was not something that would get them hurt for finding it out.

"Yeah, Tanya would kill me if I did anything else that she had ordered me not to and I really don't want to hurt you," Tommy said as Kim laughed at him before playfully pushing his face away from hers. He was trying to kiss her again, but she could tell that he might get a little bit carried away.

"Well then, Mr. Leader is finally listening to some one? I should mark this day down in history," Kim said, as she heard her communicator go off and answered it, knowing there was no one that could be listening to her. All of his students had gone home for the night and Rocky already knew about everything, so there was no need to worry about anyone hearing what was said over the communicator or so she thought. "Yes, Alpha."

"Kim, there is an attack occurring at the park. You and Tommy need to meet the other rangers there. They are already there and they are being whooped," they heard a voice say and Kim and Tommy looked at each other and then agreed. They did not want to have to go out there and fight, not right now, but what choice did they really have? If they didn't do it, then no one else would and they needed to buy all of the extra time that they could.

"Don't try to protect me," Tommy muttered to Kim as they both stood up and they teleported out in rays of pink and white light.

Charlie and Ashley sat there, amazed, knowing, deep down, what they had just seen happen, although they didn't want to admit it. There was no way that they were going to be able to just sit back now that they knew who some of the rangers were, but this was just ridiculous for it to be two adults with a child that were out there risking their lives. They had thought that it was some teenagers, as it had always been, but this led to the bigger question of if they had been rangers more than once? It didn't seem like that could be possible, but now that they were thinking about it, it made more than enough sense that it would happen, especially for Kim and Tommy.

"What the hell was that?" Ashley asked as she stood up and went to look and see if she had really seen that happen. Just like she expected, there was no one in the office and no signs that they had even been in there this afternoon, except for the fact that Tommy's bag was open and contained his school clothes.

"Ashley, I know this is going to sound odd, but I think we just found out who two of the power rangers are," Charlie said, as this was probably the biggest understatement that he had ever made in his life.

They knew that they couldn't go tell anyone what they had seen, it might make Kim or Tommy be killed by someone who despised the rangers. They were also wondering how many other people that they knew that were rangers, but they wondered who else was a ranger that would have never came to mind. They hadn't expected a couple of twenty something year olds to be rangers, but they were and by the looks of it, they were the two that they always saw working together in battle, not that it was a big surprise with knowing who they were. The problem was, what could they do with the information that they now knew?

"What are you doing here?" Rocky asked, as he had seen the signature flashes out of the corner of his eyes and had gone to see if Kim and Tommy had left. He knew that Kim and Tommy had, had to leave, he could only hope that Charlie and Ashley had not seen them leave, although he was sure that they had. Tommy was not going to like when he heard this one, but he trusted that Ashley and Charlie would stay quiet about the situation.

"Dr. O told us that we had to talk to each other and we did," Ashley said, as she stepped around Rocky and pulled Charlie out of Rocky's office as quickly as she could, scared that he would be mad at her.

They had to think about what they had seen and what they should do about it or should they even do anything. The rangers had been doing fine without any more help, but they had seen some new faces on the news and they were sure that it was not good for the rangers for more people to be going against them. They needed more people to help them as well, but they didn't know if offering their help would be stepping over the invisible line that had been drawn around the rangers.

"Alright," Rocky said rather skeptically as the two of them hurried out of the dojo and to Charlie's truck.

He had the feeling that they had actually seen Tommy and Kim teleport out of the dojo and they were trying to figure all of this out. He didn't blame them for that, but he also knew that it was going to be a shock if they ever told Tommy what had happened and the way that they had seen it. He had almost killed Jason for spilling their secret to Ally and Hayley, when they were going back into retirement, now he was going to have to deal with spilling it to two teenagers, although he had probably forgotten they were in there. Kim, generally, erased all of his memory about things other than her when she was there.

_At the Battle_

"Took you long enough," Conner said as Tommy and Kim landed on each side of him with their rays of pink and white light fading away.

They were getting their butts beaten by these warriors and they all knew that Kim and Tommy were their last steps to having any sort of help right now. It had been rough since Rita and Lord Zedd had decided to team up with Mesogogg against them and they were now getting a good idea of what the rangers had been up against when they were younger. Kim and Tommy were just glad that they had not brought puddies back in, although they had the feeling that that was not very far down the road. When the puddies came back in, they were going to have to teach them everything that they knew about the creatures and they could only hope that the rangers would be fast learners, as they had been when they first started this program.

"Alpha just contacted us, Conner. Just be glad that we're here," Kim said as Tommy morphed and then she followed suit, knowing that he was suggesting that she do so when he morphed.

The two of them were already fighting but it only took so long for the tryadrones to understand who had come into this battle and they were starting to avoid them as much as they could. That always seemed to happen, although that made their job of keeping the big-wigs busy, a little bit easier. Once they discovered that the tryadrones were afraid of them, they had told the other rangers that they could take care of them and they would go after the monsters that threatened them so often and it worked, as long as there were less than two monsters.

"Screw this," Tommy said, as the younger rangers were being thrown in every direction by the much stronger tryadrones. He knew that they were using their power boosters, but they had just waited too long to call them out to help them this time. It seemed that they were never going to get the hang of how to use the power boosters, although Kim and he had tried to explain it to them. It was just going to take them working with the booster, until it finally felt right to them and that might be a very long time from now. "Kim, use all you can. They can't hold up under this much longer."

"Trying to, but it's kinda hard to get to anything when you're being triple-teamed!" Kim yelled as she threw a few tryadrones out of the way and then called the first weapon that came to her mind. It had been her most trusted weapon and there was nothing that anyone could do against them while she had that weapon, at least not in her mind and she needed the added confidence. "Power bow!"

"Saba! I could use some help here!" Tommy yelled, as the weapon appeared in his hand as he tossed it towards Zeltrax, knowing that the weapon would keep him busy and away from Kim and his other rangers. He trusted Saba to protect them for all of the things that he could not get to and he only hoped that the weapon still remembered that or they were going to have to have a talk after this battle.

"Tommy, there certainly is a lot of action here today," Saba remarked, as he combated Zeltrax and found that Tommy was working as quickly as he could against the tryadrones, trying to destroy them and then go and take care of Zeltrax.

"Shove it, Saba," Kim muttered, as the sword and its owner exchanged a glance before looking at her. Kim was becoming ill with all of this, but Tommy had not expected it to be this bad.

She felt as if these monsters were pulling her away from Tommy and she hated when that happened. The both of them were working so hard to get rid of Mesogogg that there was hardly any time for them anymore. They hated knowing that they were becoming strangers again, but they would be able to deal with it all, they had done it before. If they could just manage to get rid of Mesogogg, then they would be able to go back to whatever type of life was left for them.

"Brutal now are you or did that just come out since you had his baby?" Goldar asked, as he pinned her arms behind her. None of her skills could get her out of this type of hold, except Tommy and even he was not going to be able to help too much with this situation as Zeltrax had managed to get away from Saba and was occupying his battle range. He didn't want Goldar to leave with her and she knew that he would get her out of there, somehow.

"Leave her out of this, Goldar. She has nothing to do with any of you," Kim said, warningly, as she heard Tommy yell out to the other rangers to try to get to her. He was having no such luck and as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that if they did not do something quickly, then she would be gone. He did not want to go through the emotional hell of having her taken away again and he knew that the other rangers would rather not deal with that as well. "Leave all of them out of this!"

"Teleport her, Alpha," Tommy barked into his communicator as he watched her disappear from Goldar's grasps and reappear next to him within a few seconds, shaking from the shock that Goldar had almost done what he had wanted to.

"This isn't good, Tommy," Kim said, as he placed her behind him and then made a charge towards Goldar, but as soon as he was about to strike, Goldar and the tryadrones disappeared, which left this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. They only did that when they were preparing themselves for something more and it seemed that was what they were doing now. What else could Mesogogg possibly have waiting to attack them?

"What was that about?" Conner asked, as Tommy ordered them to teleport to the command center right away. He did not want to risk them coming back, because if they did there was no way for them to be able to regroup and talk about what had gone wrong out here, they had no protection. "Dr. O, are you going to answer us?"

"Yes, but you're not going to like the answer," Tommy said, as Kim, he, and the other rangers had discussed just how much they were going to take before they went to battle against Mesogogg on his own planet. They could not let Earth continue to suffer, even if it did put them at a greater risk to leave this planet and go fight. "We've reached the end of our rope right now. Mesogogg is looking to capture either Kim or Angie and I can't let that happen, no matter what it might cost us, I can't go through that type of torture. There are only a few things that will get us out of this alive and that is battling them as soon as we can. It is going to take a few weeks, but the other rangers are going on full alert tomorrow, we have a lot to do here tonight. I hope that all of you would go home and get some rest, you're not going to have many more nights where you can do that peacefully."

"But, Dr. O…" Kira said, as Kim turned to her and sternly shook her head no. There were to be no buts or questions right now. They had a lot of work to do, in a very short period of time and if anyone got in their way, the wrath would not be pretty to deal with, as she was sure they had figured out by seeing them mad before.

_At the Park_

"What are we supposed to do now?" Ashley asked, as she and Charlie sat down on their favorite swings at the park.

They did the only thing that they knew to do when they had a problem: go get an ice cream cone and sit in the park and talk about the options that they have left to deal with. Right now, it did not seem that they had many options left to discuss, except whether or not they were going to tell Dr. O. That decision, however, was scary to deal with as they were teenagers and they had no clue what Dr. O might do to them when this happened.

"I don't know. They want everyone to keep it a secret and they've done a good job with that for all of the years that they have been rangers. We might be better off just to not say anything and act as if we know nothing. They don't need any more worries than what they already have," Charlie said, as he looked across the lake and then sighed.

There were signs that they had fought here earlier this afternoon, but he could not believe that he knew some of the rangers, it didn't seem like it could be real. It just did not seem like he was not supposed to know this, like the conversation this afternoon was supposed to be a dream and he would wake up tomorrow and it had never happened. He wanted that to happen, but he knew that the reality was that he now knew who the ranger were and he felt that they needed to help them. The two of them had things that were going on in their life that was more important than being a ranger and Charlie didn't think that they would like to decide between their ranger duties and their daughter.

"But we could help them out, somehow. You know that they don't need to be fighting with a baby at home. That has to be doing something to them mentally and physically. It's no wonder that Dr. O is so tired when he comes to school in the morning. He's not just looking after Angie, he's having to go fight monsters every afternoon," Ashley said as they saw Conner and Kira walk by in front of them and they waved out of friendliness. They looked to be tired and battle worn possibly because of the fact that Charlie and Ashley were looking for people who were acting like that right now and possibly because of the fact that they were two of the other rangers. They didn't know, but they were sure that they needed to look out for anything like that, as they even had limits to what they could do.

"I know, but how do you ask someone about that? To do that, we'd have to admit that we were listening to them and I don't know if I want to admit that to Dr. O. He might not take it too well," Charlie said, as he did not want to have to explain every bit of it to Dr. O. He could only imagine what he would have to say to him if he tried to explain how they knew all of this and it would embarrass the living crap out of him to admit that he had listened in on their conversation, especially with some of the personal things they had said.

"Well, I think that he would just like the help and it won't hurt to ask him about it. The most he could do is yell at us and that is not too bad," Ashley said, although some would surely think that would be worth murder to admit that to someone who already knew about the rangers.

The rangers would possibly jump on each other for letting the secret out and it might make things worse of the rangers, although they hoped talking to Dr. O would prevent all of that. If they told him the truth, it wouldn't be a big deal, but if they lied, there was no telling what damage that could cause. They couldn't risk that type of damage being done to the team and Charlie and Ashley did not want to cause something like that to happen between them.

"Well, I think we should sleep on it, but Dr. O does deserve some more help. I just don't know if we're meant to be the help that they need. There are other rangers out there," Charlie said as Ashley stood up and walked over to the lakeshore. He knew that it would be rough for all of them to know this had accidentally been revealed to some people, but they would deal with it, in order to help people who needed it more.

AN: I hope that you liked this chapter. I am starting to try to build up to the final battle, so these chapters might not be long or they may be close to novel length, but I hope that you like it, no matter what. Feel free to review!


	14. New Rangers

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Dr. O, Can We Help?_

"Mornin' Beautiful," Tommy said, as Kim laid back down in bed next to him and he looked over at her, wondering what time she had gotten out of bed this morning to feed Angie. He knew that she had woken her up, as neither of them had been in bed when he woke up a few hours ago and then went back to sleep, out of habit. He had gotten used to it, as she had told him she would take care of Angie until she had to go back to work too. It was too much of a nuisance for him with the way his job was right now. He could only hope that she had not been up the whole time, though. He really didn't want her to have dealt with a sleepless night after the battle they had gone through yesterday. Her body was probably begging her to get some sleep and he could only hope that she would be able to do that for a little while this morning. "You okay?"

"Yeah, breakfast is on the table. Angie woke me up at about three this morning and by the time she went back to sleep, I thought that I'd go ahead and fix you breakfast. There was no need for me to come back up here to just have to turn back around. Have a good day, Tommy. I'm going to try to get a couple more hours of sleep," Kim said, as he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek and then go take a shower.

He had gotten used to leaving the two of them to go to school in the morning, but it was still hard to deal with it when she had, had a rough night. It wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't have to work, as he could take care of Angie until Kim had gotten her sleep out, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon and it was going to be worse when she went back to work. He just prayed that Angie would start sleeping through the night sometime soon, so that Kim could get the extra rest she needed, especially after a rough battle.

"Thanks, sweetie and I'll look after her until I leave to go to work. Sorry she kept you up last night," Tommy said, as he noticed she was already back to sleep and he would gladly do what he said as long as he could.

She had been doing other things with the time that she was supposed to use for sleep and he knew that she had done it so he would be able to go to school today. There was nothing that he could do to change Angie being cranky last night, but he hoped that she would let Kim sleep some this morning. He knew how much she needed the rest and he could only hope that she would get it today, as this afternoon was bound to be busy for them as they had many improvements to work on, namely trying to get the rangers used to the power boosters. They were nowhere near as comfortable as they should be with their power boosters by now and it was starting to worry them some.

_Charlie's POV_

Well we slept on everything that we found out last night and I know my sleep was not peaceful. I had dreams of horrible accidents occurring with the rangers and all because Ashley and I did not offer our services to the rangers. I do not want any of those dreams to become a reality that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. So, I am going to do everything that I can to keep that from happening, even if Ashley doesn't agree to what I think we should do about this.

My gut tells me that I have to tell Dr. O what I learned last night. He deserves to know that we know about the position that they are in and maybe he'll be able to use us, somehow. I don't know how he could use us, but I think that he could find a way if he looked hard enough. I know that Ashley was right when she said that they shouldn't be doing this job with a baby at home, but I wonder lots of things about that being the case and why it happened. Like how did they became rangers in the first place? I mean this opportunity doesn't just fall out of the sky, I think you have to be selected for it or something like that. And why in the world are they rangers now, at their age? It doesn't make any sense to me that they would be doing this unless they didn't have any other choice. I just hope that at the absolute least they'll answer these questions that I have and any others that come to mind as the day goes on.

_At School_

"Good morning class," Tommy said as he entered his classroom and sat down behind his desk and he watched as the noise level dropped. He carefully placed his books in front of him, making sure that he had managed to grab all of them this morning. He had thought that he had had all of them yesterday, but he had left a few at home, but luckily for him, Dennis had a few extra teachers' books in his room. If he hadn't, he was not sure that he would have been able to get through a lesson at all yesterday and Principal Randall had observed him, which was something that he hated to deal with. She had not even bothered to tell him that she was coming and his first observation was supposed to be a scheduled observation, but Principal Randall didn't do things the way that other principal's would. He had learned that a long time ago, but it still was not pleasant to deal with. "Well, if you have me later on today, I hope that you have done your homework. You will probably have a quiz to deal with those problems."

"Dr. O, I didn't know that we had homework," Charlie said, from the doorway with a look of the utmost seriousness in his eyes.

He knew that he had to send this message to Tommy as quickly as he could or he would not be able to talk to him until much later today. He wanted to give him enough of a heads up to know to let Tommy figure out what he was going to do about the situation. If it was as complicated as he thought it was going to be, it was going to take Tommy most of the day to figure out what needed to be done.

"Charlie, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in homeroom?" Tommy asked, as he stood up and headed towards the door. He knew that this was odd, but it must be important for him to have come by this early in the morning. He would usually come by later on if he needed to talk about something, but this seemed to be the type of something that he needed to talk about right away. That scared Tommy, but he could only hope that Charlie was serious about whatever they had to talk about and that it was just something silly. He didn't know if he could handle any more problems popping up right now. "Talk quietly until I get back."

"I came here to ask you about something that I probably shouldn't know about, but I found out about," Charlie said, as Tommy looked at him and then thought for a few seconds about what it could be.

He was dumbfounded but he figured it could not be that bad. There was not much that people could find out about him that would honestly make him worry about how they had gotten the information and if he had that type of information, he was going to ask where he got it. He could only pray that it was not one of his rangers, although if he was asking to help, that would be welcome. They needed the help as much as they could get right now, considering everything that was going on around their home at the present time.

"Well, what it is?" Tommy asked as Charlie looked down at the floor and then sighed. He and Ashley had agreed to offer their help, but he had no clue how to explain all of this to Tommy without being backhanded through the wall within the first few words. He had seen Tommy lash out before in tense situations and this could become very tense if he said things the wrong way.

"I saw you and your wife last night at the dojo," Charlie said as Tommy nodded his head, as he had expected them to see her walk into the dojo last night. He honestly doubted that they hadn't seen her, as some of the newer students made some remarks around him about her and he had to set them straight rather quickly. He wanted them to know she was off limits, had a baby, and was married to him, which they had gotten the picture of after the way she greeted him. The two of them had learned how it was best to address that situation, especially around teenagers.

"Why is that out of the ordinary?" Tommy asked as that had happened often enough that everyone saw her at least once a week when she came into the dojo to see him. "Everyone saw the two of us last night."

"The two of you were in your office. We heard whoever that was talking to you. I know this sounds odd, but is there anyway that Ashley and I can help you?" Charlie asked as Tommy dropped a folder that he had held in his hands from pure shock and did not even attempt to reach down to pick the papers up off the floor.

How could he have forgotten about the two of them being in Rocky's office last night? Kim was going to kill him when she heard about this, especially if she had not gotten any sleep this morning. He could just imagine the hell he was going to catch if she was in a bad mood when he walked in this afternoon. It was bad enough to almost tempt him to go to the dojo first, but he knew that Kim would be fine, after the first hour or so after hearing the news.

"How did you? Charlie, we'll talk about this later. I can't say anything to you at school, there is no protection here, but you and Ashley can me meet me in my room after school. I'll need you to come with me to my house in order to talk about all of this. We'll see what we can do about this, but there may be absolutely nothing that we can do," Tommy said as he glanced around the hallway.

He was shocked that they had caught them, but if they could help, it would be worth them finding out about everything that they were doing. He just hoped that no one else found out, they couldn't exactly risk that type of information leaking out right now. If Cassidy got her hands on that type of information, she would have a hay day, although Tommy would try his best to keep that from happening, even if it meant having Cassidy come in for permanent detention.

"Alright, Dr. O. Thanks," Charlie said, as he turned to run to his first period class, hoping that he would not be too late, as Ms. Williams would not be happy.

_At the Command Center_

"Tommy, how was…school?" Kim asked, as he let go of her and she saw who was behind him. The look on his face told her not to ask why they were there, although she was not able to stop her natural impulse to do so quickly enough. She was still exhausted and she knew that if she didn't try to stop it, Tommy might be mad, but she just had to know. She was in a good mood and she could only hope that he was in a good mood himself. "Why?"

"We'll explain, Mrs. Oliver. We didn't mean to find out," Charlie said, as Kim looked at him and then back to Tommy before she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She didn't understand why they were there and she was not going to go towards the command center until she knew what was going on. Then she might head that way, but only if Tommy seemed to think that that was a wise idea. She knew better than to walk towards the command center and give away that there was something down there. They had far too much to lose if the wrong person found out about them being rangers.

"What do they need to explain?" Kim asked as Tommy sat down next to her and rubbed one of her shoulders as calmly as he could, not knowing what he reaction would be to this news, but he prayed for shock. If she was shocked she would sit there in silence once Charlie started and he knew exactly what that would mean for him, as he would have to brace himself for a punch or two when it finally sunk in with her. That, however, was better than her standing up and yelling at him for letting the information get out. He couldn't take her being mad at him tonight, as he just wanted to be able to get some rest.

"They just need to talk to us about something," Tommy said, as Kim looked at him with a question in her eyes. This didn't sound good at all, but she trusted him on this and was just going to go with the flow and hope that doing so wouldn't make her irate.

"Mrs. Oliver, last night, when you came to visit, we were in Rocky's office. Dr. O made us talk to each other. We had, had a fight yesterday and he wanted us to talk, not that we blame him, we're fine now. Well, we saw the two of you leave and we want to know if we can help," Charlie said, as Kim looked between him and Tommy, trying to figure out if she had heard this right. He just had to be kidding her that they had seen them teleport out. She could only imagine what Zordon would have done to them if he had heard that type of news come from some teenagers when they were younger. How could they be so foolish as to forget to check to make sure no one could see them?

"How could you forget?" Kim asked, slapping Tommy on the back of the head before thinking for a few seconds. They could use the help, there was no doubting that one, but would their old powers take to them at all? They weren't sure that the Dino Thunder powers would transfer the way that their others had in the past, but it was worth a try to do so. If they did, the two of them might be able to sit out some more where they could make sure Mesogogg didn't try anything tricky, like kidnapping Angie or another ranger. "You really want to do this, though?"

"Yeah, if we can. I know that we might not be able to do that, but we can't say that we didn't try," Ashley said as Kim and Tommy looked at each other.

They had never had someone come ask to help, besides Katherine, and they weren't really sure if they could do what they were thinking of doing. What would Zordon have told them to do if they were in this very situation? What was Alpha going to say to them when they brought two complete strangers into the command center? To be honest, they had no clue what was going to happen, but they had to try, things had become too risky in Reefside for them to sit back and relax. There was a time a place for every battle, this battle just happened to be right around the corner and they needed all of the help that they could get.

"Alright, but don't be surprised if Alpha does not take to this idea very well. We actually don't know what he will think about this idea," Tommy said, as Ashley and Charlie looked at them as if they were crazy. What kind of a name was Alpha?

"Oh man, he might go crazy Tommy. After all these years we get caught, I don't think he is going to take that well," Kim said as Tommy just nodded his head.

"I'm sorry, but who's Alpha?" Charlie asked, as Kim and Tommy walked them into the kitchen and then Tommy reached to open a well-concealed hatch in the floor.

"You'll see," Kim said with a smile as Ashley and Charlie walked into the command center and stared around the room, wondering what half of the things were in there. Then they saw this little robot teetering towards them and they wondered exactly what they had gotten themselves into by volunteering to help them. They were not planning to take orders from a robot, but they would if they had to. They knew that things would change in their life when agreed to at least try to help Tommy and Kim.

"Kim, Tommy. What are you doing?" Alpha asked as the two teens eyes widened even more when they heard him talk and then they backed towards the wall, trying to test what were the safe and hostile areas, if there were any of those areas in this room.

"They, accidentally, saw us teleport out of the dojo last night and they want to help us, if they can. We need that help and it can't hurt to try to see if they are receptive to our powers," Tommy said, as Alpha looked at him and tried to judge the teens, as he walked over to get Kim and Tommy's former morphers. He was just going to have to trust that they were right this time, if not, it the consequences were likely to kill them. He had no clue what they would do about the teens that knew about them now if they did not receive any powers, but for some reason they were trusted, so he only hoped that Tommy and Kim were right.

"So, you think that they'll be able to take your old powers?" Alpha asked, as Kim and Tommy nodded their heads yes. It was a simple test to see if they would take to the powers. If their gems would glow in their hands, then they were going to become rangers. If not, the would be right back where they started, but at least that was two more people they would not have to go through later on.

"We get powers?" Ashley asked, as Kim and Tommy chuckled. They volunteered to do this, what they didn't know was that they were planning to make them full rangers, which was scary if you had never had it happen to you before.

"Yes, Ashley. It's the only way that you can fight against some of these creatures. If you fight without them, you wind up with bruises like this," Kim said, as she pulled up her shirt to reveal a bruise on her upper shoulder, which she had discovered at about four-thirty this morning, while trying to rock Angie back to sleep. She had not mentioned it to Tommy when she saw him for a few seconds this morning, but she was sure that he expected her to have some bruises, although maybe not this bad. She had been morphed when she fought last night. His eyes widened dramatically when he saw it and then he pulled himself back from saying anything, he knew that she did not need him to come down on her. She already knew that she shouldn't be putting herself in the position that she was in, but she had to fight in order to have a chance to have a normal life some day. "You don't want to have to deal with these."

"But the two of you have powers," Charlie said, trying to understand why they had bruises that looked like that.

He had seen bruises similar to that on Tommy at the dojo several times and he had wondered what they were from, but had never asked about it. He didn't think that Kim would beat him or something, but now it made sense, although it still did leave the question as to why they had them in the first place. Weren't their powers supposed to protect them from something like this happening to their bodies?

"We know, but we have different powers from our dino ranger counterparts. Our powers are stronger and they do things to our bodies if we have them for too long. That's why the other rangers haven't come in yet, they can't. They don't want to suffer from the side affects," Tommy said as they nodded their heads as Alpha placed the gems in each of the teenagers' hands. They glowed just as brightly in these two teens' hands as they did in Kim and Tommy's hands when they had first grabbed them, which relieved them of finding two other rangers in a matter of days.

"Looks like we have two new rangers," Alpha said, as he removed the dino gems from their hands and settled them in a morpher and communicator. "These are yours, there are some things that you must know, though."

"What type of things?" Ashley asked, as she placed the pink communicator on her wrist and then looked up to see a video was about to be played on the computer. She could only think about some of the science videos she had been forced to watch over the past week and it gave her a headache to think about watching another one. She couldn't believe that Dr. O would decide to show them school videos now though. "We have to watch a video? Come on, Dr. O I've had enough of watching videos from things that you teach about lately."

"It's not just any type of video, Ashley. This is the history of the power rangers and the evils that we have fought over the years. Lord Zedd and Rita Replusa are back, do not let that video fool you; they are just as vicious now as they were then. If you have any more questions, we'll answer them after you see this," Tommy said as Kim walked over and picked Angie up out of the crib that they had placed in the command center. As much as they hated to admit it, they knew that this was the best thing for them to do in order to keep her safe. They had to keep an eye on her and this was all that they could do to make that work without too many complications, especially when a battle started while one of them was at home with her. "She alright?"

"Yeah, she wasn't too fussy this morning after you left. I just haven't had a great day. I couldn't get back to sleep this morning once you had left," Kim said, as Tommy gave her a questioning look and then hoped that she would explain it later. If Angie had not been fussy, then he had no clue what could have made her day be all that bad, even if she had been sleep deprived. She had dealt with that problem enough in the past. There had not been a battle and he would have been told if Mesogogg had contacted them, so that didn't leave much in his mind to play around with. He was merely going over the most obvious things that could come to mind. "After you left, Principal McEntire called me, she wants me to come back to school in two weeks, instead of three weeks. Kat's not supposed to start babysitting for another two and a half weeks, I told her that I couldn't, then she said she'd fire me if I didn't come back. Tommy we can't take that right now, not with how things seem to be going."

"Kim, in two and a half weeks, we might not even be on this planet for you to go back to work. We have to just take things one day at a time right now. It cannot get much worse on Earth before we take things there, you know that. If you lose your job we can get through it. We've been through much worse before," Tommy said, as he tried to get her nerves to calm down.

He didn't want her to lose her job, but her boss could not take anything against her when she had a doctor's excuse to stay out and he might have to twist Tanya's arm to make it a little bit longer, if they had to leave, unexpectedly. Tanya, however, would do that as she had hoped for those excuses so many times when she was younger. She now was in the position to help them and she would if she could, in any way.

"But she doesn't know about everything we have been through, no one else does besides us and the other rangers, Tommy. She wouldn't believe me if I told her that I had the responsibility to save the world on my plate as well as becoming a mother," Kim said, as he knew what she was saying was the truth. They didn't trust anyone to know about them being rangers and they were not going to start doing that to save her job. She could find a job at a gymnastics academy if she had to do that or she could expand her own, that had been in the plans for awhile. This was a secret that had to be kept, no matter what it cost them in the other areas of their life. He just hoped that it didn't cost them a lot more than they were willing to give up.

"Hey, it's going to be fine. I know that. If she fires you, you can work at the dojo full time or you could open your own academy. We have enough income to let you do that if it becomes necessary," Tommy said, as Charlie and Ashley turned around to look at them, not believing some of the things that they had seen and they also wondered who one set of rangers were. Most groups of rangers showed multiple battles, but the last group showed one huge battle and it had the most rangers involved in it, besides the red mission. It just made no sense to them why that would be the case for only that mission.

"I have one question for you," Charlie said, as Tommy and Kim walked over to them, as if this was an ordinary thing that happened inside of their household walls.

"What's that?" Tommy asked, as he minimized the picture of Mesogogg that was sitting on his desktop, not wanting to have to deal with looking at it any longer. He had seen the creature enough in real life to know that he was horrible to deal with and he did not want to see him any more than he had to.

"Who were those last rangers? The ones before this team?" Charlie asked, as Kim and Tommy looked between each other and then sighed. There was a reason that they didn't show their faces, but they were just going to explain it today. They didn't have much of a choice about it.

"That was us about four years ago," Tommy said, as the two of them stared at them, not knowing what to say or if there was anything left for them to say to that. So, this was not the first time that they had come out of retirement? It was fairly obvious that they had been some of the first rangers, as Kim was recognizable in the pictures of them.

"How could it be you? All of the other ranger groups have been high school students," Ashley said, as she was not sure that she understood how the lifetime commitment was going to affect them. She was sure that Kim and Tommy had not thought that this would be something they did for the rest of their life, but it sure seemed like it had turned out that way.

"It's a long story and I think that we better save it for some other time. There are some simple rules to being rangers that you need to know before you leave. You tell no one, you don't get caught teleporting and if people get suspicious, you lie to them. And I mean everyone that gets suspicious, even your parents," Kim said, as they looked at her and nodded about that. They had expected there would be a lot more, but they were just going to send them to the house now. They really only had time to go over the basics of how rangers operated. "Go home and rest. You will not have many days that you will be able to do that."

"Alright, but how do we know when you need us?" Ashley asked, as she did wonder how they would know everything that was happening.

"Either we contact you or the evil finds you. It's not an easy life to live, but I know that the two of you will be able to deal with it," Tommy said, as they walked out through the kitchen entrance, knowing that their life had just changed. They were now Power Rangers and being rangers, brought a whole new dimension to their life. They had seen what type of people did this job and they want to make them proud. It was going to be a short road for them, if things went the way that Kim and Tommy wanted it to, but they wanted to do this. They were meant to be rangers, just as everyone else in that room with them.

AN: Any constructive criticism is welcome. I need as much help as I can get with my stories. Please feel free to review!


	15. Taken Away

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Ashley's POV_

I walked into school today, feeling completely different from how I felt yesterday at this time. It really is amazing how much telling the truth about something can make you feel better. I was worried that Dr. O would be mad at us for volunteering to come help them with something that we weren't supposed to know about, but he wasn't and that relieved some of my stress. But there are still some things to worry about, although I am not quite sure what they are. I just know that I should be worried about being a ranger.

I cannot believe that I am actually doing this, but it is wonderful to know that I can help people, even if I only do a small part. I honestly don't know how any rangers were able to give it up, although I do think that Dr. O will be able to explain that one to us when the time comes to let go of these powers. I just didn't realize that volunteering to become a ranger would make me feel this different. These powers do weird things to you and they change you in ways that you would least expect, although you would think that it comes with the terroritory.

I didn't have many questions last night, but since then I have thought about it and more questions have come to mind. These questions seem to be simple to answer, but I wonder how many of them might be avoided because of prior experiences in the ranger world. Dr. O and his wife sure seem to have things that they don't like to talk about in their rangers life. I don't know how to morph, at all and I'm not sure if I will be able to fight the way that Kim and Tommy think that I can. I mean, it is not a problem for me to spar at the dojo, but the fighting that they do is so much more ruthless. Those things don't care if I get hurt or if they kill me, at least at the dojo, I know that the people will be my friends at the end of the day.

I'm afraid that I will be a mediocre ranger and nothing better than that. I don't know if I can deal with something like that and I don't know if they will accept it. All of them are outstanding at what they do and they have been working at it for at least a year or longer, as in Kim and Dr. O's case. My fellow rangers will help me through this, but I don't even hang around Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent, at school, we're not even in the same grade. It sounds horrible, but I mostly hang out with the people that are the same age that I am. But I guess that I will be hanging around them from now on. I didn't know that I was going to automatically think of them as my family, but I do and I can't help but wonder if that comes along with the powers that I now have or if it is just me being a girl, as Charlie would say.

"Hey, Ash, you doing alright?" Charlie asked. His first night as a ranger had been peaceful and he was happy about that.

He had been afraid that they would have been called out last night and he honestly did not know what he would have done if that had happened. He knew that they would not even have a second thought about calling them in and he was silently preparing himself for all of this to starting happening, whatever 'this' happened to be was still a question that was roaming around in his mind. He didn't really know if it was better to not know what it was or if it was better to be prepared for what was ahead, like the other rangers were. If the rangers hadn't needed the help, then he doubted that they would have given the two of them powers at all, but that scared him to know that they were needed that badly. It also let him know that he had to work hard, as they held many expectations for him.

"Yeah, just getting used to things. I can't imagine what it is like to have these taken away from you. I don't know how they went through it so many times," Ashley said, as he grabbed her hand and walked with her to their first class, which happened to be English. He hated the subject, but as long as he had someone that would help him with it, it would all be fine and Ashley happened to love English, thank goodness. If not, there were several times that he might not have passed regular classes and he was thankful that she had been there to steer him in the right direction and yell at him when the time was right. "Did you do your homework?"

"Yes, missy, and I know that Ms. Williams will be happy about that one. I don't think I could stand Dr. O coming down on me for not turning something in because of the excuse that I would give him. I don't think that it would measure up anymore," Charlie said, as he could imagine the speech that he would get from him if he found out about him not doing his homework most nights.

He was sure that they had been able to find time to do their homework and he knew that he should be able to find time to do his, no matter what came up. He honestly imagined that most of what kept him from doing his homework, was not considered acceptable. If his teacher had been able to do his homework in high school, under the same or worse conditions, then he should be able to do that and he hadn't even experienced anything, yet, but it was coming.

"Well, if that is what it takes to get you to do your work, then I think we should have had a fight sooner," Ashley said with a smile, as she settled down in her normal seat for English, knowing that this was one of the most interesting classes for her.

She loved the literature and the writing and everything about it, just as much as Charlie hated everything about the class, except Ms. Williams. She was nice to Charlie, even though he rarely finished his work on time, due to his hatred for the subject and grammatical formings of the English language in general. She was just happy that he turned in work most days, especially after hearing how he was from the junior English teacher. He hadn't exactly been nice to her last year, but they had come to a truce by the end of the school year, although he was quite sure that she just did that so that she wouldn't have to deal with hearing his complaining any longer. He had passed the class, but he had to admit that it was more because of the fact that Ashley made him do his work than anything else.

"Good morning, class. I do hope that you read the assigned piece of literature last night. We shall be moving on to another piece of work this morning. I expect that this one shall take us a few weeks to cover, so, I will need you to pay attention and be in class. I do not want you to fall behind as there will be a major test grade at the end of this period in literature. I do not want any of you to fail to graduate because of that," Amanda said, as she noticed some of her students rummaging through their book bags, trying to find their assignment, which she was sure, was not buried that far in the book bag. It just gave them something to do that occupied their time and their brains for a few extra seconds, as none of them were really awake at this time of morning. She did hate having seniors at this time of the morning, but at least they were able to get it over with early in the morning. "Now, if you would please turn to page five hundred and one, so we can begin our work today."

"Amanda, sorry to interrupt your class, but can I borrow you for a second?" Tommy asked, as he knocked on the door and their teacher then stood from where she had been sitting and walked to the open door.

She could only imagine what Tommy needed her for this early in the morning and all of it led to him having a run-in with Randall already, which was never a good start to the day. She didn't really want to have to hear about that, but she would listen, as the only other option was that he go to vent to Dennis, who would not help him any. He would just make Tommy want to explode on Randall even more and they did not need that to happen right now. Tommy had enough problems to have to deal with, without getting in a fight with Randall.

"What's going on? You've been acting weird lately," Amanda said, as Tommy held a stack of papers in his hands and then passed her a set, which she looked at for a couple of seconds before realizing that they had to deal with school and nothing else. She, however, could not think of why in the world Tommy would be the one that was passing them out. He already had enough paperwork to do and he really didn't have time to do anymore, not with everything that was going on at home. It had really been rough on him to leave Kim and Angie alone during the day and she had the feeling that it had to do with something else. She just didn't know what it could be. "What are these for?"

"Mrs. Thornsby said that Principal Randall left these for all of the teachers to fill out and turn in by the end of the day. Lucky for me, I have first period planning, so guess who gets to distribute them to everyone," Tommy said with a smile, as he avoided answering her question.

There might be sometime, later down the road, that he could do that without any worries, but today was not the day and he knew that it would not be that for several more months, at least. He wanted to ensure that they were truly retired before he began telling anyone else about him being a ranger and even then he was not sure that he would tell anyone. There was always that chance that they might have to go back into their duties again and he was not sure that he could take anyone knowing about it.

"You've got to be kidding me. Another pass fail ratio sheet, why does she have it out for us? We just had to do one of these last week. I don't think that anything has changed since then," Amanda said, as she knew that her class was hard, although she did lighten up some second semester for her seniors. The seniors deserved to have some fun during their last semester in school, although they still had to finish some work in her room before they would be able to leave there, with a passing grade.

"It's more like she has it out for me. I just had half the basketball team bomb their mid-term and it makes them ineligible to play for the rest of the season by county guidelines. So, I'm sure that you can guess why we are having to do this," Tommy said.

He was sure that the coaching staff had gone to complain to Randall as soon as they had found out about their star athletes' failure of a test that Tommy had been sure that they would have passed if they had studied. He had given them a study guide and he knew that the study guide was the key to passing the test. It always had been that way for him and things never really changed in his teaching strategy.

She was more than happy to help them in any way possible, as long as it would make Tommy look bad, as they still despised each other. He had tried mending the fence, but it hadn't worked and he had just quit trying after a while. There was no use in him being nice when she was being rude to him every chance that she got.

"Well, I can bet that same half of the team failed my test as well. I still haven't finished grading all of the papers, but some of the ones that I have seen do not seem too promising," Amanda said, as she was in the process of grading their essays on a story of their choice, which was not as hard as some of her students made it out to be. All they had to do was write a summary of the story that they had read and she was sure that all of them would be able to do that, although some of the papers were horrible, from what she had been able to read of the scrawl they called writing. It seemed that they thought that if she couldn't read it, they would pass, but she was going to fail them because of their illegible writing. She could only hope that would get the message across to them that she meant business. "Oh well, it'll be fine. Have a good day, Tommy."

"You too," Tommy said, with a smile, as he saw an airplane sail past Amanda's head, which caused her to turn and glare at the class.

They quickly straightened up when they saw the look on her face and Tommy couldn't help but chuckle behind her back, as she was not really as mean as she made some of them think. He knew that she had to do that in order to get anything done in class and they just dealt with it for the first few months of school, although it seemed this group of seniors was going to try to push her limits.

"Now, where were we," Amanda said, sitting down behind her podium and beginning to read the story to the class, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster after seeing the stack of paperwork that she was going to have to do this afternoon, during her planning period.

She could not believe that Randall was doing this to them and she also could not believe that Mrs. Thornsby had been able to convince Tommy to hand out the papers at all, with the way that he felt about paperwork that came down from Randall. Mrs. Thornsby, however, was a lot nicer to Tommy and she had the feeling that the secretary had bribed him with a box full of her famous cookies, which would give Tommy the burst of energy that he needed to make it through the stack of papers he would have to file.

"Ms. Williams, I have a question," Jackson said, as she placed a hand over her face and then slowly looked up at him.

She hated hearing those words come from that boy, any day of the week, but especially on a day when she was in no mood to answer too many prying questions. He would always ask questions that did not pertain to the lesson and she was worried about what would come out of his mouth today.

"Yes, Jackson," Amanda said, as she looked intently at him and tried to give him her full attention and think of ways that she could avoid the question if it was too much for her to handle, as it had been lately.

"What's going on with Dr. O? He's been acting weird lately and he has started skipping out on our classes again. Is something wrong with Kim or Angie?" Jackson asked, as Amanda sighed. At least he was not asking about Dennis's and her relationship as he did last week, which led to her having a red face and a temper that went along with it. They had only recently started dating and they had tried to keep it low key, although Jackson had somehow gotten the idea that they were dating and started hounding both of them about it.

"I don't know, he won't tell any of us anything. The only one that probably knows is his wife and that does not surprise me in the least bit. He has lots of things that he is responsible for and I don't ask what those things are. I don't think that I would really want to know what they are," Amanda said, as she had talked to Dennis about the type of secret that Tommy might be keeping from the entire staff. "Now, back to the Canterbury Tales."

Tommy had seemed to have stress taken away from him for a few months there, but it seemed that around the time that Kim had the baby, the stress came back into his life. It also seemed quite possibe that it could be even worse this time than it was before. They knew that Angie couldn't be causing all of this stress, but they were not brave enough to ask him point blank what it was that was causing all of this. They had the sinking feeling that it would not be something that they wanted to hear and she was not prepared to have to listen to an unveiling of emotions from Tommy, of all people. He had always held back his emotions and she did not expect him to change now.

_Mesogogg's Lair_

"You have got to be kidding me that this imbecile is the one that has been monitoring the rangers. Don't you have someone who is better equipped for that job!" Lord Zedd roared as Mesogogg stood toe to toe with the one person that had willingly agreed to help him try to defeat the rangers. Lord Zedd had come back with one purpose and that was to defeat the rangers, but is seemed that this Mesogogg being had other agendas that were more important than doing that.

Mesogogg had just told him that he had assigned Zeltrax to watch the rangers, although Zedd could do that from the comfort of his room because of the technology that they had laying at their fingertips. He had been monitoring the rangers for months from thousands of miles away and he had not had to risk anyone to do that assignment, when there were other things that were more important to the building of his empire. He wanted to give him a lesson in monitoring rangers, but he did not have the time to do that, he only had time to prepare to fight. Each day that they wasted, sitting back and doing nothing, was a day that the rangers were becoming stronger and he did not want to deal with them when they had their full strength. He knew that he might not be able to deal with them when they had their full strength and that did scare him to know that he could possibly die at the hands of the rangers.

"He is the only one that can do this. He has not been caught by the rangers and will not be caught by the rangers," Mesogogg said, as Rita cackled at his thoughts.

Sure he was not going to be caught by the rangers. That was like saying that Tommy had never done karate in his life. He would eventually be caught by them and if Mesogogg thought that they would not destroy him he was wrong or he had been brainwashed by someone over the past few months, which either seemed to be a real possibility.

"Ha! You think that the rangers don't know what's going on here? Have you not noticed that two of them have a little bit of expertise in this area?" Rita asked, as their help walked in, but they stopped within a few steps inside of the door.

The help got along rather well, but there was a pull for who would have the power to take the reigns and Lord Zedd was starting to think that he should pull his support and leave while he still could. He did not want to deal with the ending that Nicarni-Aso had been dealt from the rangers, although it surely seemed that he was heading that way right now. Mesogogg was not being aggressive as he needed to be and he would not listen to anything that they said about it. His plan was going to work, although he had failed miserably many times before.

"Yes, but they also forget about the fact that I can come get them anytime I want to," Mesogogg said, as he showed them what he had done the last time that he had captured Kimberly, not that it had been wise move for him to make. He was in the position that he found himself in now because of that very decision and he was sure that someone would point that out to him, eventually.

"Well, he certainly didn't know Tommy, did he? Did you take her away from him?" Goldar scowled as Mesogogg zapped him, which caused Lord Zedd to glow with anger. No one punished his help, except him and Mesogogg had just crossed that line without so much as a second thought.

He also knew that what Goldar had said was just the simple truth. They had learned that if they wanted to piss Tommy off, they should take Kim, and if they want to try to get themselves killed, they should threaten to kill her. He, obviously, had not learned that lesson, even after he tried and failed to do so without any harm being done to himself.

"Listen, you want to defeat the power rangers, right?" Lord Zedd roared as Mesogogg looked and him and nodded. Lord Zedd had a plan, even if it was not fool proof, it did give them something to fall back on if things happened. "Then listen and listen well. Those rangers are not stupid, you have to take advantage of something that you have not done. Let me show you how to bring the power rangers crawling to your doorstep."

_After School_

"So, are you going to Hayley's today?" Kira asked Ethan as he looked at her as if that was one of the dumbest questions that he had ever heard in his life.

He practically lived at the cyberspace and why would he change things now? They had been told to go about their life as if everything was normal and that was what he planned to do, for the time being. He knew that idea might be called off eventually but since it hadn't been, he wanted to enjoy being a teenager as long as he could. They were finally seeming to get the idea that what Kim and Tommy said was the truth and it was best to listen to them, anytime that they had the opportunity.

"Yeah, are you coming along or are you and Conner doing something this afternoon?" Ethan asked, as Kira nodded her head, before he got out the last part of the question. Conner had soccer practice today and she knew that Trent was going to be working there this afternoon, but she still was suspicious about Ashley and Charlie being allowed on as rangers. They had found out from Dr. O this morning and they had taken it rather well, but they still didn't understand how they had found out about them being rangers in the first place. It was odd to hear about it, but they were sure that it was going to be fine, if Dr. O felt it was fine. "Do you want to ask Ashley and Charlie?"

"Conner has soccer practice today. He has missed so many that I know he wants to go while things are relatively calm. I don't even know what class Charlie and Ashley have last period. So I guess it's best that we just go," Kira said, as Ethan took that as a no before they started walking towards the cyberspace, with as little worry as was possible for a ranger. They had learned to be cautiously carefree and they were starting to master the art that all of the rangers had after living this life for a certain amount of time.

"Hey Kira, Ethan, how was your day?" Hayley asked, as they walked up to the bar and sat down, each ordering a smoothie, which happened to always be on the house due to their connections with her. They never told anyone that it was that way, but Hayley had insisted on it since they became rangers. Every now and then, they needed a pick me up and this happened to work for them most afternoons.

"It was alright, we found out that we have some new help," Kira said, as she was sure that Hayley had heard about it and she would be able to help them understand Dr. O's thinking on this one.

"That's good, you know that he was worried about that. He didn't want their powers to go unused. He thinks that it is going to take all of you to defeat them," Hayley whispered, as she spotted Cassidy walking through the front door of the cyberspace and then shook her head. The girl was just asking for someone to deck her because of her nosy questions and she had already heard from Trent about what had happened in Tommy's class earlier today, which was fairly funny. "Watch out, reporter chick is hanging around again."

"We will," Ethan said, as he watched Cassidy pass by and head to another table, full of her friends.

He could only hope that today she would not start in on the ranger questions again today. He was fresh out of lies, as of yesterday, and he had no clue how he was going to be able to lie to her today if she started asking the prying questions about who the rangers were. He had never hit a girl, but that was going to drive him close to it if he did not have someone there to reign him back in and Kira could only do so much.

"She was on it today in Dr. O's class. I thought that he was going to deck her when she told him that she had gathered evidence that the rangers are working with Mesogogg now. She said that that's why they have left the area for so long," Trent said, passing them their smoothies.

They happened to be in a different class from Cassidy and Trent this semester, although Trent was not happy about having to deal with her, although it did give him some entertainment, especially in Dr. O's class where things had been very interesting lately. From what Trent had told them, she had been pouring on the questions to him, on some crazy, correct, hunch that he knew something about the rangers. Trent had thought that Tommy was a good liar, but he even believed what he was saying and he knew the truth about all of it. They all just wished that they had learned how to dodge the questions as well as he had, although that did come with many years of experience and several close calls.

"I don't know how he didn't smack her," Kira said, as she could imagine what he would have done to them if they had let that type of talk go on in front of the class, as they knew that it was not true, in the least bit. The only thing was that they could not get too mad or they might have the questions turned on them and that was what he had been trying to prevent. They knew Dr. O could handle the questions, but they were not sure how to handle the questions that came from people. "Did he say anything to her?"

"He told her not to judge the rangers without having all her facts straight. That shut her up pretty quick," Trent said, as he could remember exactly how Tommy had said it as well.

He seemed ready to throw his desk at her, but she had been lucky enough that he had to show some sort of discipline while he was teaching a class. He had managed to talk to Trent for a few seconds after class, to calm him down as well. He told him to just ignore it, it would be fine as long as no one believed her and since she had not been correct on anything else, he hoped that no one would believe her on this one. Although he had admitted that there was a first time for everything and he had seen weirder things happen over his years of service.

"What did she say?" Kira asked, as she and Cassidy had never really gotten along and she was eager to know if she gave Dr. O another chance to make her look like a fool. She didn't believe that she would have quieted down with so little coming from Dr. O, unless he said that in one of his serious, 'I'll kick your ass if you don't do this' tones. That shut anyone up and she was sure that it would work on Cassidy as well.

"Nothing, she really did shut up this time, although it did help that he told her that if she said another word, he was going to find a way to pull her journalist privileges," Trent said, as Ethan and Kira laughed.

They all knew that Tommy could not do that, but it sounded good enough for all of them and Cassidy didn't know if he would try it, which was worse to her than not getting a story. She loved those privileges and if anything happened to them, then she might as well not exist anymore. They then heard their communicators ring, although it was the toll that they had only heard once before and it worried them, in some ways.

"Go ahead, Alpha," Kira said, as the three of them huddled around her communicator, trying to guard it from anyone who might try to listen to the conversation that they were going to have.

"There is some sort of disturbance on the beach. I can not find what it is, but you need to go check it out. If there is anything that you cannot handle, contact me," Alpha said, as the three of them looked at each other and then excused themselves from Hayley's presence. They ran until they found an empty alleyway, before they teleported themselves down to the beach, hoping to find nothing that was too alarming.

"Yes, I'm pulling them right into my trap," Lord Zedd, as he was planning on showing Mesogogg how to pull the rangers into a fight that they could not win for losing.

"There's nothing here. Why would Alpha bring us here?" Kira asked, as they walked down the strip of beach, looking for anything that seemed slightly out of the ordinary. There was nothing there that they had never seen before and she couldn't believe that Alpha would teleport them for something like this. There just had to be something around here that they were missing.

"There has to be something, we just have to keep looking," Ethan said, as a group of puddies landed around them and they looked between each other. This could not be good. They did not know how to destroy these creatures and they were not even sure that they could.

"What are these things?" Kira asked as a puddy grabbed her and teleported her out of the battle, while some of the other puddies were trying to restrain Ethan and Trent in the same fashion, although they were struggling with it as much as they possibly could. They knew that they needed to stay here if at all possible and they were going to do everything in their power to do that.

"Kira!" Trent yelled as she disappeared and he then felt the same thing happening to him, as he saw that Ethan was no longer there. He had no clue what was going to happen to them, but he had the feeling that the final battle was about to begin over this and that Kim and Tommy were not going to be happy. He could only hope that nothing would happen to them that would cause either of them to risk their lives without due cause.

"That is how you pull in the power rangers," Lord Zedd said, menacingly, as they landed in front of him while Mesogogg looked at the rangers with a great sense of pride. He had found someone that would help them, although this was certainly not his idea of how to bring the rangers in.

"Holy shit!" Kira yelled, as they dropped them into a containment room and she then went to reach for her morpher, which had been yanked away from her, although she had not figured it out until just then. "Damn it, we're stuck."

"What do you mean, we can teleport out," Ethan said, as he went to reach for his communicator and found that it was no longer there. There was no way that this was happening to them right now, not when they had been trying to avoid a huge battle. They didn't even try to get into a fight this time, so why had they come after them? "Well, we could teleport out of here."

"We better just sit tight and conserve our energy. They'll come for us. You know they will," Trent said, as he knew that any plan to get them out of here might not work at all and he didn't want to risk any of them dying right now. They had come too far to just die because of one of these creatures and as long as they didn't have to do anything crazy, then he was not going to try to pick a fight when they were undermanned.

AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and the more that you review, the quicker you will get the next chapter. Until then, happy reading!


	16. Leaving

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_They Disappeared?  
Alpha's POV_

I know that the rangers should have made it back here by now, but they haven't. They haven't even contacted me to say that the battle is over or anything like that, it makes no sense. This just isn't sitting too well with me, but what can I do? I can't leave here, but I know that they are alright, they have to be.

The puddy patrol came into view for a few moments on the screen, but then my visuals went blurry and when they came back up, the beach had no one there, not even the rangers. It had been barren before the battle and I expect that was how it was going to be after it was all over. It just has been too quiet around here lately and maybe I should have called Kim and Tommy, too. I just don't feel right with everything that is staring me in the face.

But I know that the rangers must have been able to make it away from that battle. It was not as risky as many of the others that they have been in alone. But if they were not able to make it away, I am going to have some horrible news for Kim and Tommy when they get home tonight from the dojo. I can just imagine the reaction they will have when they find out something like that. I had better start searching for them, if I don't then Tommy will surely claw me for a few days because of my forgetfulness, but he's one to talk about that sort of thing, although I do not feel brave enough to cross him now. He is not going to be happy if my assumption turns out to be correct and I can not take on a six foot ranger with as much karate experience as him.

"Alpha, have you seen Kira, Ethan, and Trent? They didn't come back to Hayley's after whatever it was that was going on and I'm worried about them. They're alright, aren't they?" Conner asked, as he walked down into the command center, with a sense of urgency in his step. He just had this eerie feeling about things right now and he hoped that it was only because of the heightened sense of awareness they were supposed to have now. Tommy had warned them that it would become annoying especially when they knew that they were going to have to fight soon, he had just not taken him very seriously about it.

He had heard his communicator go off, but he couldn't answer it while he was at practice and they all knew that, so he had gone to talk to them about it at Hayley's but they were still gone. He had assumed they would be back, as it was becoming dark outside and they had been called at the beginning of his practice. Hayley told him when they left, but even she thought that they should have been coming back soon. It just seemed like a routine check to see if something might be up; they went on those all the time and they usually came back within an hour or less of being called out. They both knew it had been far too long, but they did not want to admit that to each other, as that would mean that they were admitting that there might be somesort ofproblem.

"Conner, do not go crazy on me, but I am afraid that I have found them, but you are not going to like where it is," Alpha said, as Conner looked at him with a look of confusion evident in his eyes. His inexperience kept him from jumping to correct conclusions immediately, but Alpha knew it wouldn't last very long. He would figure it out sooner or later.

If he had said that to Tommy, he would have gotten a groan of anger before he started telling them what they needed to do about the situation, but Conner did not follow his brain waves as well. Conner just thought that it might be some little mistake and that he really would be able to survive hearing whatever news Alpha had for them. He really didn't want to face any other possibilities. He really didn't know any other possibilities as the only ones that had ever been captured were Kim and Tommy and he, sadly, had assumed that they would be the only ones ever gone after. They just didn't seem to be as valuable.

"Where did you find them, Alpha?" Conner asked, as Ashley, Charlie, Kim, and Tommy were teleported into the command center from whatever they were doing at the dojo, which was a shock to all of them. Tommy was doing a roundhouse kick when he had been teleported and when he felt himself land, he knew that he was in a different place. He didn't feel the cushioning that the mats at the dojo gave him and he could only pray that his students didn't notice it. He didn't know how in the world he could answer these types of questions from them if he had to do that.

Alpha knew that he might as well admit the bad news all at once, instead of saying it several times, although he was going to have to say it again when Tommy called in the Calvary. The Calvary, however, would not be as rough to explain this to and he wished that he could talk to them first. He hated giving news like this to the rangers, it had never gotten easier, although he had been doing this for several years. They just never liked to hear that a ranger or as in this case rangers had been taken away from them.

"I found them on Nonatasion. That is now Lord Zedd and Rita's home planet. It seems that they have taken them," Alpha said, as he knew that some people would not understand exactly where that was or what that meant for them, but others would know exactly what it meant.

Kim and Tommy exchanged a confused glance, while Conner let out a moan of depression before they got the gist of what had happened this afternoon. They now had some of their own rangers that had been taken away, as a lure to get them to come fight, which was just excellent and it was a surefire way to get them to fight, although that had killed Nicarni-Aso, in the end. It just seemed that they had not learned from some of the rangers other enemies mistakes in the past, that was a pity.

Kim and Tommy just hoped that they had it in them to go through one more battle like that one, as it had been rough on their bodies and their minds. They were admittedly older than some of the other rangers were and it left them at a disadvantage. They knew more, they had been through more, and their bodies were worn from the decade they had been doing this job, but hopefully they would be able to hold up for one more battle. That was all that they really needed to be able to hold out for, then they would finally be able to say that they were retired and then they would never have to take up another battle with evil. They just had to find some way to make it through this battle and live to tell the tale of what happened while they were there.

"Shit. Did they just disappear or something? How could we lose three rangers in a matter of seconds?" Tommy asked, as Charlie and Ashley looked at him as if he was crazy. This was not something that they had really expected to happen on their first day as rangers.

Charlie and Ashley had never heard him curse, without him saying it jokingly, although they were sure that they had tempted him quite a few times at the dojo, especially on days when they knew he wanted to get home. This, however, was not the dojo and it was a problem that they were sure deserved that sort of language or worse if it was humanly possible. They didn't really know what was going on, but they could imagine that someone being taken away would be awful, especially if they might be in a great deal of danger. Although, they did think that anything that went wrong with the rangers had to be horrible, but they were not going to say that.

"I'm not sure. I couldn't see what was happening at that point during their battle with the puddies and when I got visual contact again, they were gone. Lord Zedd must have deflected our frequency for long enough to take them away without anyone seeing it. I would have contacted you earlier, but I had to make sure first. There was no need to worry you," Alpha said, as Kim raked her hands through he hair and then looked over at Tommy to see what he was thinking. The look on his face, however, did not make her feel any better.

This didn't sound very good to her and there was no telling what Lord Zedd was trying to do to the rangers or what he was going to ask of the other rangers. It could be as simple as asking for their powers or it could be that he honestly wanted to fight them until it was over, until one group was utterly destroyed. She did not want to deal with some evil rangers, but if he did turn them evil, then they needed to be prepared for anything that they would try to do to them and the ways to avoid hurting them. They didn't need this added stress, but for all of the problems they had, had in the past, this was one that they were able to deal with the best. They knew the most about Lord Zedd and they could only hope that he had not changed too much over the years that he had been absent from their life.

"Alpha, you need to call the others and this time tell them to be prepared to be gone for a month or maybe even longer. It looks like Lord Zedd wants us to come to them and I think that we'll be able to do that and survive, somehow. I just don't know if we know enough to really fight them. I'm going to need you to send us the information you dig up as you find it over the next few days. We need to know a lot more than what we do now," Tommy said. He was not sure he wanted to go there, not knowing what was going to happen to them with all of these problems going on around them, but they had to. It was a challenge that they could not look away from, under any circumstances that might be placed in front of them.

His class of rangers was not going to be too happy about all of this mess, but they knew that they could not leave three rangers in Lord Zedd's hands for long. If they did, they risked their deaths being on their conscience and none of them could deal with that sort of guilt. They had to get to them and if that meant that they were unable to defeat Lord Zedd and Mesogogg right now, that was fine. They just had to protect their fellow rangers and they could worry about defeating the two of them at a later point in time. Right now, it would just be a bonus if that happened at the same time.

"What are we going to do?" Ashley asked, as Tommy looked over at her and then went to enter some teleportation codes into the machine. He had no time to answer questions and he could only hope that Conner would hold himself together long enough to help explain some things to them while they worked on the things that had to be done before they left here.

Conner was not looking too good, but Conner knew from the little experience that he had that breaking down was not a wise thing to do at the moment. He needed to remain calm until there were some other rangers that would help guide Charlie and Ashley, as Tommy and Kim were now beginning to prepare for a departure from Earth. He didn't know how they were going to do that, but it didn't really matter to him. Getting ready for that was going to take all of their attention over the next few hours and he knew that it was best just to leave them alone while they worked. If they asked too many questions out of them, then there was the possibility that either of them would go off the deep end and that was not something they wanted to experience. They needed all of the rangers to be sane right now, if it was at all possible.

"Once the other rangers get here, we are going to teleport to the other command center. It has the ship that we will use to go to Nonatasion and we also have to transfer the powers to the old rangers," Tommy said, as streaks of light began appearing around the command center. Some of them landed on top of furniture pieces and others landed as they finished doing whatever they had been doing before they were teleported. It was odd to see, but Ashley was sure that this was only the beginning of what she was going to experience during this mission.

"What the hell," Ally said, as she had happened to wind up being teleported with Rocky and she got the feeling that she did not want anyone to respond to her statement, no matter what they might say that would prove her mind wrong. She had the feeling that her mind was right this time and there was nothing that she could do to change what was going on here. She felt that begging Rocky to stay behind would be a fruitless effort, but if that was what started coming out, there was nothing she could do. She didn't like this idea at all and she only hoped that he would understand some of the things that she was prepared to say to him. She didn't want him to leave and her not feel as if he understood how things were between the two of them right now. "Don't say anything, I know what is going on."

"Billy, how fast can you get your powers back? And I don't mean partially. I mean that I want you to be able to pull out anything that you have, as soon as you have them. We can't risk going in there without enough firepower. We have no clue what type of weapons Lord Zedd has there," Tommy said, as he knew that Billy had stated that it would not take long, except for the fact that they had to dig out their shards again.

Tommy had already pulled out the box and set it in front of Zack, who was frantically pulling out black shards, as he got the idea about what was going on the second he felt himself being teleported away from his home. He had some questions, but they would all be answered on their long journey to Nonatasion, as right now was not a wise time to ask anything of a great deal of importance that did not pertain to whatever they were trying to accomplish at the moment. Their focus was on getting the powers and then getting on their way to Nonatasion, everything else was put off until later.

"Within a couple of hours at the most, what happened to cause this?" Billy asked, as he had not even heard about a battle in Reefside this afternoon, although it did not surprise him at all.

He had still been at work and it was obvious because he was still in a suit and tie, which was something that he hated he had to wear everyday of his working career. It, however, went along with his job and he had to wear it to keep the higher-ups happy and quiet, which was something he wanted to do. He planned to interview for the Reefside branch one more time with the company that he was in and if it didn't work, then he was just going to pick up and leave Angel Grove. He had used all of his patience over the last few months with this company and if they didn't want to help him, he was no longer going to work for them. He was sure that he could find a job Reefside, it might just take a little bit of looking.

"Lord Zedd captured Kira, Trent, and Ethan with his puddies and took them to his home planet. I can help you with the morpher preparations once all of you have sorted your shards," Alpha said, as Billy looked around the room and noticed that there were two new faces there and that Conner was not holding up very well, by any means. He wanted to know who the new rangers were, but introductions would occur later. There was a lot of work that was still left to be done here and it seemed that they were on a tight schedule to try to get it finished.

"Conner, are you alright?" Jason asked, as he had seen Billy act like that during the last mission they had been on and he could only hope that Conner would be able to concentrate, somehow. If he was lovesick, it was going to be hard, but they would get it through his head that they needed him and if they didn't he might get a few hard blows before he understood it. If that didn't work, they might have to send him home. They didn't want to have to face that possibility, but they didn't want anyone dying because of something that they could have prevented.

Teleporting to Nonatasion was an idea that could work for them, but they wanted to have supplies for the battered rangers and not being on a vessel limited what they could take with them. If one of the other rangers had been seriously injured, it was a huge risk to teleport them anywhere and if they didn't get there soon enough, there might not even be anyone left to teleport out of there. The ship would take longer, but it would give them time to formulate a plan and then they would hopefully be able to execute it once they landed on Nonatasion.

"I'll be fine. I just need some time," Conner said, as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance about how depressed he seemed. It didn't look good to them, but they knew that Conner would pull through, somehow.

The boy had just felt as if he was going to have a chance with Kira and now all of that was being shattered by Lord Zedd and Mesogogg's plans. They could only hope that they would get to them while Kira was still in one piece, so that Conner would not have a mental breakdown. If they got there too late, there was no telling what Conner would do and they didn't want to deal with that. They never wanted to deal with the possibility of a ranger dying and this was the first time that Conner felt as if it really affected him.

"Alright," Kim said, as she pushed Ashley and Charlie towards him and the three of them were soon crowded onto the back couch, trying to stay out of the frantic rangers' way.

They had never seen them act like this before, but they were sure that this would not be the last time that they saw an odd occurrence during this mission. It seemed that they were preparing for something that they had never seen before, except they had heard about a battle against Ivan Ooze in Angel Grove, but this couldn't be anything like that, could it? They were only beginning in their duty as rangers. They could not possibly be asking them to fight in a battle that would bring to end a reign of one set of rangers. It didn't make sense that they would be brought in for only one battle.

"Charlie, do you know who any of these people are?" Ashley asked, as he shook his head no, while Conner looked up from his hands to see that they were worried about what was going on around them.

Conner knew he was going to have to get a grip on himself for a few minutes, as he knew that Dr. O had no time for any sort of introduction right now. He would let himself go when he got onto the ship, as he couldn't hold in all of his emotions for a very long time. It was not healthy or wise for him to do so, but no matter what he would manage to do it long enough to make the others think that he was fine.

"They're the first rangers and they are the ones that will be doing most of the work until we get there. Then our job begins. We'll fight and that is all that we will do until we get the three of them back," Conner said, as Ashley and Charlie looked over at him, wondering if what he said was really true. It didn't seem as if it could be, but he was the best source of information that they had right now and they just had to go with whatever came out of his mouth. They just couldn't understand why the first rangers would be coming back to help them in the first place. This had to be much worse than they imagined.

"No way," Ashley muttered, as Conner shook his head that this was the truth. She had imagined meeting them, someday, but certainly not while they were having to do something like this.

She had thought that Dr. O might just have them load up to go to Angel Grove one day, but that fantasy was being shattered before her eyes, as she was meeting them when they were having to fight a battle that they had started years before. She got the feeling that meant that they were about to see the ruthless side of them, instead of the caring side that they all knew was there, although she did have some questions about Dr. O some days. She often wondered if the ruthlessness was a by-product of being a ranger, although that did not seem to be the truth of the matter from what she could tell. It just seemed as if they all had their moments.

"Okay, so Trini is the yellow ranger again and Aisha is the purple ranger now?" Kim asked, as the colors had flip-flopped since the last time, which led to more confusion among them. These powers seemed to be temperamental, but it would be fine, as they knew that either would answer when they needed some help from them, even if they did call them the wrong name a few times. Being called the wrong name was the least of their worries; they had much more that could go wrong than a mispronounced name right now. "This is too confusing. Why couldn't these powers just stay the same as last time?"

"Kim, honey, it's all right. I'm just glad that they were able to get powers at all. I don't know what we would have done if they couldn't," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and he then gave her a quick hug. They were going to need all of the reassurances that they could get over the next few hours, as they were trying to avoid thinking of leaving Angie behind, which was bound to rip their hearts out. Neither had really thought about it yet, but it was starting to creep up in Tommy's mind and it would continue to loom there until they said good-bye. "Did Hayley already get Angie?"

"Yeah, don't worry," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her and heaved a sigh of relief. That was one less thing that he didn't have to worry about right now and that left more room for him to work on everything that was around him. Hayley knew he was going to be more stressed over the next few hours and all that she could hope was that Tommy would be alright in the end. "Come on, get back to work, you know how bad this might turn out if something is not done right."

"Jason, has Trini been feeling all right lately?" Billy asked, as he had to admit he was slightly worried about her.

She was not her normal self, not that anyone was under these circumstances, but she just seemed to be more off than anyone else in the group. He had noticed that she had been acting odd when he saw her earlier this week at the lunch they shared weekly, but he had thought that she had, had a bad day, but he was getting the feeling that this was not caused from a bad day anymore. Unless this had just managed to be the week from hell for her, which would explain why she didn't look like her normal self. She was having a great time at this new job of hers, but it was a lot more work on her than her past job had been and that meant she had more stress on her shoulders.

"Yeah, from what I know," Jason said, as he looked over to see her helping Alpha make the morphers. She didn't look like her normal self to him either, but he'd ask her about it later. They would have plenty of time to talk on the way there and on the way back. He just hoped that it was not something that needed to be handled well before they got on the ship. If it was, he was not sure that he'd be able to deal with knowing that he had gotten some sort of warning and had not taken the chance to use it. But as soon as he had that thought it flittered out of his brain and he went back to the work at hand. "I'll ask her about it later, Billy. I'm sure that she's fine."

"Okay, as long as you're sure, I'm fine with it," Billy said as he walked over to help them with the morphers and to keep a closer eye on Trini.

Jason had never been the brain of the group, but neither was Tommy, although they worked as hard as they could at what they were allowed to touch by the others. They knew that they would not allow them to touch the morphers, so they were just trying to stay out of the way as much as they possibly could and pack whatever else they thought that they might need.

"I'm going to teleport all of you to the old command center, do what you have to do there in order to prepare yourselves. Hayley and myself will follow in a few minutes, in order to make sure that you have a successful lift off," Alpha said punching in some buttons as they had finished with the morphers in a record amount of time.

He just had to make sure that they would work, after the hasty preparation, although he did trust the ones that had helped build up the morphers. He was glad that Jason and Tommy had decided to allow them to work, as he was sure that he would have been checking their work a great deal, if they had helped.

"Is this going to be explained to us?" Charlie asked, as the rangers suddenly looked over at him. They had not even fought in one fight and they were going off on some huge mission. This was not what they had in mind when they volunteered to help the rangers in any way that they could, although they had come into this in an odd manner. They had to be prepared for anything that came at them and all of it was going to be new to them, unlike most of the others who seemed to have some sort of experience.

"Yes, but it will be once we are on our way. We cannot explain it now. It is going to take us about four days to get there, we'll have plenty of time for all of the questions that you want to ask about what is going on," Tommy said, as they nodded their heads and then saw Kim was clinging to Angie.

They had expected her to be like that, although it was worse than they had thought it would be, in some ways. They had all thought that it would be a few more months before they had to do something like this, but it wasn't and that left them without most of their preparations being done. She was scared to think about never seeing her baby again and they were not even sure if Tommy would be able to comfort her enough to get her to calm down before they got on the ship.

"You mean that we're going to miss that many days of school?" Ashley asked, as she was sure that this was going to be suspicious and her mom and dad were going to start worrying when she did not come home tonight, but what else could she do? She could not tell them what was going on and she doubted that they would believe her, even if she did break protocol and tell them what was going on with her.

"At least that many. Don't worry, we'll have something that will cover your backs and if not, we'll just morph in front of them. That should shock them into letting it be an excused absence for all of you," Jason said, as Tommy had noticed how Kim was acting and he was trying to keep himself in some sort of a composed manner, but found himself failing miserably. He did not want to leave either.

"Damn," Zack muttered, as he could see the tears streaming down the pink ranger's face, as she thought about having to leave her baby for that long. She didn't want to leave her like this, but they had to go get back their rangers and that meant sacrificing so many things. Tommy had now joined her and placed his arms around the two of them, trying to calm Kim down, somehow. They knew that it was a fruitless effort, but at least she wouldn't get any worse than she already was with him standing there with her. "Ish."

"What?" Aisha asked, looking up, momentarily, from loading the ship to see who had called her. She thought that it was no one for a few seconds, until she saw Zack looking at her and he seemed to have something he wanted to say, although he was having a hard time finding the right words.

"I'm sorry," Zack said, as Aisha stood there, frozen, while the others continued to pile things into the ship. She couldn't believe he had just said that, as she knew how much it had taken out of him to do that at all, but especially in front of all of these people who knew what was going on between the two of them.

"Earth to Aisha," Rocky said walking in front of her and waving a hand in front of her face as he smiled at her.

Ally was trying to keep from crying and he had to deal with packing the ship, before he could even think about saying good-bye to her. That was a whole new type of stress to deal with and he was not sure that he would be able to handle it, at all. He didn't know how Tommy had been able to do it in the past and he was now finding more respect for his leader, as he knew how difficult it was to try to say good-bye to someone. He just didn't know if he would be able to handle it as well as Tommy had.

"Sorry, Rocky," Aisha said, with a smile, as Alpha teetered over and handed something to Jason. Tommy could not take anything from him right now and neither could anyone else, so Jason would have to do, although he had no clue what it was. He just hoped that Billy would be able to explain it once they got on the ship. "I'm just a little bit out of it."

"Well, you better get yourself together before we get to Nonatasion. We wouldn't want something bad to happen to you while you're there," Rocky said with a smile as he turned to head towards Ally, while Aisha and Zack walked onto the ship. "I'm telling you that we can't have Zack jumping in front of you too many times."

"This is a new radar detection system. The ship needs to be made undetectable, as soon as you are airborne, and this button does that," Alpha said, as most of the others had grouped off and they were trying to say good-bye to their loved ones. He understood that they had to do this right away and they did not want to risk their other rangers' lives any longer than they could manage. It had always been something that had caused them to come out fighting and it seemed that Lord Zedd had shared that secret with Mesogogg, which was why they were doing this right now. "Be careful. Lord Zedd has armies of creatures that you have never had to deal with before and we can not lose any of you out there. Pull back if you have to and regroup. You'll get the job done, eventually."

"We will be Alpha, but it might take a little while to get everyone on the ship," Trini said, as Rocky and Adam seemed to be having a hard time saying good-bye to their significant other.

They knew the risks that were involved in this job and they did not want something to happen and them never have the chance to see the other person again. They, however, were going to have to turn around and leave them crying, as there was not much else that they could do to comfort them until they got back.

"Rocky, please, be careful," Ally said, as he gave her a bone crushing hug.

He had imagined that she would be upset, but he didn't think it was going to be this bad on his part. He didn't think that he would be to the point that he could not handle any of it without getting choked up about it. She was his world now and he didn't know how he was going to be able to deal with rocking hers so badly. It was not fair to her that she had fallen in love with a ranger, but the most he could do was promise that he would come home to her, even if she didn't believe those words right now.

"I will be, but I have to go. The others are already on the ship," Rocky said, as he let go of her and saw mascara was streaked over her face, which he carefully wiped away with his thumbs. That was not the picture that he wanted to carry with him into battle and he hoped that she would give him something else that he could easily remember her by before he left. Something that would honestly make him happy to think back on every time that he thought of her. "Don't. I'll come back to you."

"How do you know that?" Ally asked, as Rocky bent his head, out of shame, as he started to cry the tears that he had promised himself she would not see. He had wanted to keep himself together until he was able to walk onto the ship, but he just couldn't do it, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

"I don't, but the thought of never seeing you again hurts me too much to think about it. Don't make this any harder on me, Ally Mae. I have to do this, just let me do it and I'll come back as quick as I can. I love you," Rocky said and then gave her a kiss.

He quickly turned to go board the ship without looking back. He knew that if he did, he would never be able to get on that ship and that just wouldn't do. The rangers needed him and he needed to be able to say that he had a good last memory to bring him back home on and not one that would cause him heartache while he was away.

"I love you too," Ally said, as she watched him walk away. She knew that he was barely able to hold himself together and she only prayed this would not be the last time that she said that to him.

"You know, I think that I've been doing lots of things wrong lately," Adam said, as Kat looked at him and then gave him a firm hug. He did not need to worry about her changing her mind now; she had been through too much to have that happen because of a ranger mission. He just had to do his job and then come back home, that was all that he could focus on right now and she knew it. She just had to make sure he remembered it.

"I don't care about that, Adam. You just have to take care of yourself right now. I'll be here when you come back, don't worry about how this is going to affect me. Remember that I know what it's like to be there and second guess everything in your life," Kat said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She could cry once they were long gone from here.

He had to get on that ship so he could help the other rangers and she'd do whatever it took to get him to do that. She knew that this was going to be hard on all of them and she didn't want to add anymore stress to Adam right now. He was worried enough about never coming back to her and as much as she wanted to cry on his shoulder, she knew that he couldn't be forced to worry about her. If he just worried about coming home in one piece, that would be fine with her because that was the most important thing that he could do right now.

"Bye, I'll see you when I get back," Adam said, giving her a final hug before turning around to board the heavily burdened ship.

"Bye, I love you," Kat said as she watched him start to go away, knowing what was destined for him to do and how much it would take out of him to do just that and make it back home in one piece.

"I love you, too," Adam said, as he turned to face her before continuing on his way. His thoughts were scattered right now. He could barely remember having to go on a mission that was so throw together, but he was also forgetting the last mission he had been on. It mattered that he could do all of this and nothing more counted as long as he knew that he could finish what they had started so many years ago.

"Is that everyone?" Jason asked, as Adam shook his head no and then Jason noticed that Kim and Tommy had not boarded the ship, which worried him. They were going to have a rough time letting go of Angie, no matter what anyone said. They had never been away from her before and it worried them a great deal to have to leave her at a time like this.

"I don't want to leave her, Tommy. I don't know if I can do this," Kim said in between sobs, as he gave her a secure hug and gently rubbed her back as she continued to sob against his chest. She was not making this any easier on either of them.

She had not given Angie to Hayley yet and he was beginning to wonder if she would ever do that without him forcibly taking her out of her arms. He didn't want to do that to her, as she would surely hate him for a few hours because of it, but they had to get going soon. They couldn't afford to waste anymore time without getting on the ship, as Kira, Trent, and Ethan would be paying for each minute that they waited to get going. Lord Zedd was not going to be easy on them and he could only pray that Lord Zedd had not seen it fit to turn them evil.

"I know, I don't want to do this either, but if we don't we might lose some people we care about. We have to go Kim. I know it is hard, but we have to," Tommy said, as she continued to sob against his chest. Neither of them had thought they would be forced to battle so soon, but they had learned to expect the unexpected lately. This was not something they had expected, but they would be able to deal with it, somehow. They just had to get over the fact of letting go and then they would be all right or at least they would find a way to be all right. "She's going to be in good hands, Beautiful."

"Okay," Kim said, as Tommy slowly released her from his hug and she turned around to give Angie to Hayley before she turned to walk to the ship as quickly as she could. She couldn't look back and she wouldn't until she was on the ship and that would only be so that Tommy could wrap her up in a hug.

"Bye, Angie. Mama and Daddy will be back soon," Tommy whispered giving her a kiss on the forehead before he turned to board the ship.

He had managed to hold his own tears until then, but now they were flowing freely down his cheeks. He might never see her again, if things went horribly wrong and that tore at his very soul. This was going to be rough, but it had to be done as soon as possible. They couldn't sit back and wait for anyone else to be taken away from them, hoping that the evil forces would be willing to battle on Earth. Mesogogg wanted to see what they were made of and he had pushed them to the point that they were willing to show their full deck of cards.

AN: Let me know what you think! I promise to make the next chapter longer and the more reviews I get, the faster that I'll get the next chapter out.


	17. Beginning the Trip

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_The Trip_

_Jason's POV_

The ship is plum depressing right now, we've been here only a matter of minutes and I can already feel it seeping in around me. Rocky and Adam are upset that they have to leave their girlfriends and I can tell it is bothering Billy to have to leave Hayley behind as well, but he is handling it in his own way. He just isn't saying anything about it, to any of us. He doesn't want the condition of the ship to become any worse than it already is by him complaining about that problem. We have all been pulled away from the ones that we love before, but it is hurting us more this time than it ever has in the past. It just seems that there is so much more at risk this time.

Tommy and Kim are still upset about having to leave Angie behind, not that I blame them. It's their first time away from her and we all knew that they would be emotional when we left to do this mission. I just don't think that either of them had prepared themselves for something like this when they had to deal with a huge problem. We had all thought that this battle would have been on our terms, but it seems that Mesogogg has wizened up and pulled us to them without any other option available. We don't have a choice but to go, but the two of them are so worried that they might never see Angie again and I know that it hurts both of them to think about that possibility.

Some people have questions, but I know that it is hard to be the brave one to ask the first question in an atmosphere like this one. As much as I am worried about all of those people on this ship, I have to admit that I am more worried about Conner right now. He told me that he had just really admitted to himself that he felt something for Kira, what he felt, he wasn't sure about yet.

Kira and Trent broke up a few weeks ago and he had seen his chance. He just doesn't know how to deal with her being taken away from him like this. I told him what happened between me and Trini, although I don't know if it comforted him any. I don't really even know if he listened to me about it, he seems to be in another world. He's just worried that he will never be able to see her again, which is something that is hard to deal with, when there is so much left to be said. I don't know if he'll be able to deal with never saying all of this if something happens and I just pray that nothing does happen to cause him to lose his remaining composure.

"Damn it!" Conner yelled, while several people jumped from shock at the sudden noise that broke the deafening silence of the sleeping area of the ship. He then kicked a trashcan across the room and slammed his fist into the metal wall, splitting one of his knuckles, and managing to leave a nice dent in the steel plating from his frustration. A few years ago, he would not have been able to do that, but it felt good to be able to get his frustrations out and actually have some damage done. The other rangers, however, would have preferred he to take all of his aggressions out on the defenseless trash can, instead of the ship, which was bound to be much older than any of them truly knew. "Why them? Why her? Why couldn't they take someone else?"

"Conner, calm down. It's all going to be fine," Tommy said, as he stood up and walked across the room while the other rangers knew that the problems were just beginning if he did not manage to solve this quickly.

Conner's bad mood would spread to everyone else and they needed to find a way to stay positive while they were traveling there, as Billy and Tommy hated to admit that it did not look like it was going to be good for their fellow rangers. They knew what Lord Zedd and Rita could do and they were very hesitant to tell Conner about all of that. He knew enough to have an idea of what might happen to them while they were there, but from their experiences, they knew it was much worse than he imagined. He was already teetering on the verge of an emotional breakdown and all of the information that they knew might lead him to have one, if he was not suffering from one already.

"You don't know what it's like. You've never had anyone that you care about taken away from you like this," Conner said, as Jason grabbed Tommy as quickly as he could to keep him from slinging Conner against the wall and adding another dent to the metal paneling. This time, however, it would be causing a few injuries to the person as well as the wall. Tommy meant business when someone accused him of that type of ignorance.

They knew that Tommy had been teetering on the verge of insanity lately, due to all of the extra pressure he felt from becoming a father. They just hoped that he had not decided to take a dive into those murky waters right now. If he had, they were going to have to figure out a way to break Kim out of her sadness in order to be able to get Tommy to come back to the rational side of things, as he was not going to listen to any of them. Kim was the only one that would be able to talk him out of bodily harm to someone else when he got in that type of mood and it had always been something that they had known about him. It was just in the past that Kim had always been in the condition to do so.

"Like hell I don't. You don't know how many times that I nearly lost her, in this very situation, Conner and every time that happened, I blamed myself. Even if there was not a damn thing that I could have done to change what happened, believe me it is hell to have this happen to you. But damn it, you won't tell me that I don't know what it is like to have someone taken away from me. You've seen it happen to me before Conner. You should know better than to cross that line," Tommy said, as Conner stared at him before slowly moving closer, looking for a physical confrontation, which was something none of them wanted to see.

They were afraid for Conner, as they all knew that when Tommy was mad, he was never good at controlling how much strength he used against the other person. He had never hit Kimberly before, but they all knew that there were times when the furniture had endured his anger towards her. It had never faired too well and it was usually enough to make the both of them realize that they were fighting over something petty. Conner, however, would not be scared if Tommy broke a table it two. He didn't exactly know what that meant.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Kim yelled, as Tommy turned around to see that she was crying again and then hung his head in shame.

They were all stressed about one thing or another right now, but they knew that she had the most stress resting on her petite shoulders. She had to worry about Angie and Tommy. They all knew that he would not sit back and let something happen to anyone, if he could help it. But him fighting added stress to the one person that he could honestly say had been there, most of the time for him, and he didn't want to do that to her right now. She already had enough on her mind and she didn't need to be forced to worry about him as well. He knew that better than anyone else here.

"Yes ma'am," Conner said, as he stepped away from Tommy and then placed both hands over his face, trying to recompose himself, in some feeble way. He knew he was not going to be able to do it alone, but he just hoped that someone would be willing to help him. There had to be someone here who truly understood how he felt about this whole situation, although he knew there was a possibility that none of them did. "I just miss her."

"I know," Jason said, as he let go of Tommy, knowing that he was no longer going to hit anyone or anything for that matter. The look that he had gotten from Kim was enough to calm him down, so Conner was the only person left for Jason to worry about having to counsel for a few minutes. He knew he needed to be able to say whatever was on his mind, but Tommy was not the person that he needed to talk to about it right now. Tommy had too much going on that could possibly make his life change for the worst over the next few days. "Come on, me and you need to talk and I think that Tommy needs to still be able to calm down some."

"We've never been like this before," Trini said, as both Kim and Tommy were crying, although Tommy's crying was more out of frustration with himself than with anything else that was going on around them. He had not meant to lose his cool, but there were just some things that pushed him over the edge easily.

Being accused of not knowing what it was like to have someone stolen away from him was one of those things. When Conner accused him of not knowing what it was like to have someone taken away, he couldn't help but lose the little bit of remaining composure that he had. Conner knew about the times that Kim had been taken away and it just seemed that his stress blocked it from his memory. Although, they had all had that happen to them at one time or another in their lives. Conner just happened to have it happen at a time when so many other people were not in the mental state to handle it.

"I know," Billy said, as Rocky and Adam had been able to calm themselves down some, but they were still pretty bad. They had always been hyped up and ready to go and now they were all depressed, over one thing or another. They had so much to lose this time and the pressure of not getting it right was almost too much for them to bear. If they messed up, they might never be back to see the people that they loved again and they couldn't go on in life without them knowing how much they truly cared and being with them to prove it. "We just have a lot more going on right now, things that we have never had to deal with during a mission."

"This isn't normal for all of you? What's normal?" Ashley asked, as they looked at her wondering exactly what Tommy had and had not told them about the rangers' activities. Most other times they had not been under the pressure of defeating an old evil as well as a new one, but that was what they were faced with this time. It was something that they had never truly imagined coming back at them, but they knew that they were really the only ones that had the right to take care of this problem.

"We usually are working on things, discussing plans and strategies for what we should be doing once we get there. There is just a tiny problem, our brains don't want to do that this time. It's trying to focus on what we are going to have to do in the near future, besides battle these damn creatures. We all thought that we would have more time to get things right and ready," Zack said, as he saw Aisha giving him sideways glances from across the room. She could tell there was more that he wanted to say about that subject, but for some reason, he had thought it would be better to wait. It made her wonder if what he had to say had to deal with her, but she was not about to ask him while everyone else was around. She knew that she was getting her hopes up again, but every sign pointed towards Zack maybe being able to move on to a committed, stable relationship.

"So no one is usually crying?" Charlie asked, as Kim was still crying and Tommy was now trying to rock her to sleep. He had stopped trying to get her to quit crying and just hoped that she was going to cry herself out sometime soon. He knew that tonight was probably not going to be the time to solve this problem, but they would solve it before they got off of this ship to fight. They had to do that.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but its usually not as bad as it is today. I guess you can say that our lives now have a lot more to do that doesn't include being a ranger," Trini said, as she stood up to go get some food for all of them, while getting out of a conversation that she was sure that she did not want to stay in. Things were bound to turn to questions about Kim and Tommy and it just wouldn't work out for her to have to hear it.

"I know that this sounds bad and I'm going to make a fool of myself if Tommy mentioned this earlier, but what are your names?" Aisha asked, as she knew that they were asking questions that they needed answered, but she'd at least like to act as if she had some personal relationship with them. Not as if she had just met them a few minutes ago, which was in fact what had happened, but they were rangers and that made them a little bit closer than most other people that she had just met.

"It's alright, we don't know your names, either. I'm Charlie and that's Ashley," Charlie said, as they looked down at their feet, wondering how they had gotten on board and them not known everyone's names.

It was sad that they were being that hurried to do all of this, but it was the only way that they could do this and not worry about what was going on. They were now worried since they were on the ship, but that was to be expected under the circumstances that they were dealing with right now.

"Well, we might want to introduce ourselves. I'm Billy; those two are Rocky and Adam. That's Aisha and Zack on that wall and Jason and Trini are the ones that left to try to calm down Conner," Billy said, as he looked over at Kim and Tommy and they nodded their heads that they should listen to what Billy had to say. He was the one that would be the most level headed right now, while everyone else was trying to get away from all of this, trying to think of other things besides what was really happening to them.

"I have another question. Why weren't the two of you on all of the ranger teams together? Did you break up or something?" Ashley asked, as Kim looked up at Tommy and then sighed.

They knew that there had been a chance that a question like this would come up, but they didn't think that Ashley or Charlie would ask about it so soon. It had taken the other rangers months to find the courage to ask that particular question. They were so bombarded right now with everything else that was going on around them, it was hard to believe that they had noticed that of all things. It seemed that they would notice something else besides them not being on ranger teams together. Of course, it always seemed that people had questions as to why they had not gotten married sooner or something like that when they first met them. It was bound to come up once someone saw those videos.

"We did, but we don't like to talk about it. That was a painful five years for the both of us," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement.

She didn't want to elaborate on it and have to tell them that she was the one that broke them up when they were younger. They wouldn't believe that and they really wouldn't believe it when she told them why. It would seem stupid and it ultimately was very stupid, but it was still hard to admit that she had put them through hell, just to get back together at the first chance they really had to do so.

"How come?" Charlie asked, as Kim and Tommy looked at each other and tried to figure out who should be the one to field that question. That was not something that they had exactly planned to have to talk about while they were on this trip and they just weren't going to do it. They might find time to do it later, but they couldn't think of how to even begin to explain it right now.

"That is something that it best left alone. We're trying to stay positive about things and we can never do that if we talk about why we broke up," Kim said, while Tommy wrapped both of his arms around her and hoped that she would go to sleep, from exhaustion.

_Jason and Conner's Conversation_

"So how do you really feel about her?" Jason asked, as he sat down on a crate that was on the outer deck. He wanted to give Conner plenty of room if he was to suddenly become violent, for any unknown reason.

Love does weird things to the calmest of people and Jason knew that and he did not want to be the recipient of any of the actions that Conner might wind up doing over the next few minutes. He didn't have the strength to hold the boy off and the last thing he needed was for Tommy to be mad at him because he got himself hurt trying to talk one of his rangers into the truth of what was going on in his mind.

"What do you mean?" Conner asked, as Jason looked at him with a look that told him he was not buying whatever type of crap that he was trying to sell him. Jason had been in that position before and he knew that the truth helped much more than lying about everything else that was going on, but he had to be willing to admit it to himself before he would admit it to anyone else. It had taken him years to do that and he could only hope that it would not take Conner that long to realize it. It might be too little too late by then. "I really don't know. It hurt when Trent was dating her, but I always felt that I held a special place in her heart, although they were dating. When they broke up, we started spending more time together and she's just such a good friend to me. I don't want to lose her. I don't know if I can stand to see that happen."

"Well, I spent ten years trying to just be friends and not tell the woman that I love, how much I loved her. I almost lost her because of my stupidity and I'd give anything to have understood what I was doing to myself earlier," Jason said, as he knew that if Kim and Tommy hadn't seen that vision, then he would have probably watched Trini and Billy get married a few months ago, instead of him being the groom. It would have torn him up, but to him it would have been fine, as long as Trini was happy with what was going in her life. "Don't make that type of mistake. It's not something that you want to have to deal with for the rest of your life."

"I don't love her," Conner said, as Jason shook his head and then sighed. Things were never as easy as they looked on the outside for all of them.

He had hoped that Conner would have already come to the conclusion that he loved her within himself, but he had not. That meant that Jason was going to have to break it to him the hard way and he just hoped that Conner would be receptive of the idea that he was going to plant in his brain. If he was not, then Jason might have to yell and scream to get his point across, but he had done worse things to people in worse situations.

"But it hurt you when Trent dated her? Now, if you don't mind my saying, that sounds like you want her to be more than friends with you. And your reaction down there sure as hell makes me believe that you have fallen hard for her. Don't try to talk yourself out of it. It's alright if you have fallen for a friend. Believe me, it is not as bad as you think it is. They already know the embarassing things about you," Jason said, as Conner looked at him and then started shaking his head. He didn't know how Jason had been able to figure it out, but that description fit him to a tee, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

"But she doesn't care about me like that and I don't think she ever will. We are just friends," Conner said, as Jason gave him a look that told him that he had some advice on that matter as well. Jason couldn't believe that this red ranger was having the problems that he had struggled with for years, but he hoped because of his experience that he could save Conner from some painful experiences.

"You'll never know until you take a step and tell her how you feel about her. She might just be shy and not willing to take that step on her own. A lot of girls still like it when the guy asks first, it's old fashioned, but it also shows that you are willing to put yourself out there. She'll be doing that if she decides to date you," Jason said, as Conner stared at him, dumfounded that he was so blunt about what he needed to do. If he had not known any better, he would have thought that he had been in this situation several times, but he had only been it once and the risk worked out for him. He just hoped that it was worth it to Conner to risk this type of injury.

"But what happens if she does not agree with me? I don't know if I can lose her completely. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable around me if she doesn't feel the same way about me," Conner asked, as that was what had caused him to not say anything to her so far. They had been spending most afternoons together and he had been trying to figure out what she was feeling for him, but he couldn't read her. He could tell if his friends liked someone, but he just couldn't figure this girl out, no matter how hard he tried to do so.

"Well, I can tell you this much, stop trying to figure the girl out. It won't help you any because everything that she does will make it seem like she doesn't feel the same about you. Girls, some times, enjoy playing hard to get. You just have to trust your judgement and pray a little bit. Things will work out in the end if you do that," Jason said as Conner stared out into space, trying to bring himself back to normal, somehow.

"How am I going to be able to stop thinking about her long enough to do what I have to do now? I just don't want anything to happen to her," Conner said, as Jason thought on it awhile.

Trini being gone had made it easier for him to focus, he had a goal at the end of that mission and that was to get her out alive, no matter what it took out of him. The thing was, when he let himself wallow in it, he was almost killed, but Kim and Tommy were looking out for him that day. If they had not been there, he would not have been able to pull himself out of it and there was a distinct possibility that he would not be sitting there today.

"I don't know if you can and I don't know if you'll really want to try to do that. Tommy might be able to give you some advice on this whole mess. I know that he has had to do it in the past and it took a lot out of him to deal with pushing the people that he loves out of his brain and heart. It hurt him to have to forget her, in order to be able to do his job. I couldn't but knowing that the more I did while I was fighting, the more likely that I would see her again kept me going. There is always something you can do to change to outcome of the mission," Jason said, as Trini walked outside and sat down in his lap with a smile on her face. She had been able to get out of the depression and it helped her mood, she only hoped that all of the others would be able to do the same.

"The two of you doing alright? You've been talking up here for awhile," Trini said, looking between Jason and Conner.

Trini saw that Conner was still trying to figure out some of the things that Jason had told him and she hoped that the boy would take his advice. He had been there and done that and he never wanted to do it again. He also didn't want to see anyone else go through that sort of problem. It was not worth the pain that someone felt to go through something like that on his or her own.

"Yeah, I should ask you the same thing though," Jason said rather pointedly, as he remembered Billy's remark about her earlier this evening. She had not exactly been herself lately, but he blamed it on the long hours that he was working in order to try to have a job to go home to when this was over.

"This is just stressful, Jason. You know how it is some times. I've been letting it get to me, big surprise," Trini said, as Conner stood up to try to clear his head of all the thoughts that were running through it.

He had heard about the ways that these things had tortured rangers in the past, although he had not heard all of the things, he was sure of that much. He was not sure that he was going to be able to last four days without knowing how she was doing or if she was even alive anymore. From what Tommy had said, they had never killed a ranger before, but there was a first time for everything and he hoped that this was not that time. He wanted her to be able to grow old and have a full life, with or without him there.

"Yeah I do and I know exactly what you mean," Jason said, watching Conner walk out of sight and he knew that it was not good what was going on in his head, but he hoped that Conner would be able to survive it all without too many emotional scars.

"Do you think that you got to him?" Trini asked, as she had to admit she was concerned about the boy. He was a nice kid and he didn't need to be this stressed out about anything, he just needed to worry about doing his job, although that did not seem to be the first thing on his priority list right now.

"I don't know. What's going on down there?" Jason asked, as Trini looked over at him. She was not sure that he wanted to hear about all of it. It was not bad, but it was definitely not what they had been hoping for when they boarded the ship.

"Tommy managed to get Kim to go to sleep, so now he's asleep, too. Aisha and Zack are talking about something. I'm not worried about any of them, they know how to deal with this mess that we are in. I'm just worried about the new kids. They don't have a clue what to expect and they were kinda thrown into all this mess," Trini said, as Jason nodded his head in agreement.

He had to admit that he had been worried when Kim and Tommy said they found new rangers to take their places on the Dino Ranger team. He had never expected it to be two of the kids from the dojo, although they did have plenty of karate experience, which would help them some.

Karate, however, was not what was going to win battles for them. They had to have a gut instinct about what to do and when to do it and he could only hope that, they had that skill buried deep within them. If not, it was going to be a long hard road for them over the next few days.

"They'll be alright. Tommy trusts them and it is a little bit too late to send them back home isn't it?" Jason asked with a smile, before he gave her a kiss.

_Lord Zedd's Palace_

"They've got to be coming after us. They wouldn't just leave us here to rot in this place," Kira said, as Trent and Ethan sunk down to the floor and were trying to think of some way out of this place, but they couldn't see how to do it. There were too many guards and the three of them could only depend on each other while they were in there and if they did something stupid, it could put all of them at risk.

"Kira, they are but it takes time. We may be here for days before they can make it," Ethan said as she glared over at him before the heard someone enter the holding area. They had been thrown in there after they were stripped of their morphers and everything else that could help them possibly get out of this place. They could only pray it was a guard and not someone that was sent there to torture them, as they had endured enough torture already.

"Yes, yes; I know to watch them. It's not like I haven't been around this place for the last year," Richard said, as Lord Zedd told him of past attempts rangers had made to get out of this place, not that he had never heard about it. Hell, he experienced it firsthand when Tommy was able to get out under his own doing a few years ago. "Jeez."

"They don't treat you the same, do they?" Kira asked, as she knew that there was not much more she could do at the time. She hoped he might give information to them, but it seemed like they were going to have no such luck. Ethan and Trent were just praying that he would not throw her across the room and then they would be forced to deal with an injured ranger, as well as a rather pissed off ranger.

"No, but what do you expect out of them? Goldar's the top man around here and Zeltrax is not too happy about that, but he has to deal with it. I'm still mostly human and so is Elsa, so we get stuck with the sorry jobs, like watching after the three of you," Richard said as Ethan and Trent watched as Kira continued to talk to him. She was interested in seeing what he had to say as they might could use it later on to get them some help later.

"They think mutants are better than humans," Kira stated, as Richard spun around and looked at her knowing that she was trying to push him to respond to that question, which he had been advised against. He was tempted to do that, so that all of them would know everything, but he still held some loyalty to Mesogogg, although it was not as much as it used to be. The monster was making mistakes left and right and he hoped that he would be able to find some way to get out of all of this alive.

"Yeah, they do, but you do not need to know anything about them or me," Richard said, as Kira backed up against the wall and sat down next to Ethan, who tried to be supportive of her attempt to find an insecurity in Richard, although they already knew of several. They just needed any sort of information at this point.

"Nice try, but I think we need to focus on not getting ourselves killed, for the time being. If it comes down to it, we'll seduce them to get out of here," Ethan muttered as Trent and Kira nodded their heads in agreement. They knew help was on the way, but they had not clue how long it would take for them to get to them. They could only hope that they would be able to hold out that long.

_Back on the Ship_

"It's nice to know that the two of them are able to sleep. I don't know if I will be able to," Adam said, as the rest of them were still struggling to try to even begin to become tired. They were worried something was going to attack them at any moment and they didn't want to have to deal with that type of bombardment.

"They probably haven't had a full nights sleep since Angie was born and as much as Kim cried, I'm sure that it made her sleepy," Aisha said, as she had heard from Rocky about how much sleep that they averaged each night and she didn't know how the two of them were surviving. Kim had always been one of those that could take it for a couple of days, but Tommy needed his eight hours of sleep every night. If he did not get that amount of sleep, then he had an attitude from hell the next day, at least from what they could remember happening in high school.

"Do you think that Kim is really back up to fighting against all of these monsters? She just had Angie a few weeks ago and that's not very long to bounce back to ranger status," Zack said as they looked over at Billy. Rocky might live in Reefside, but he didn't deal with the ranger work as often as Hayley did. They all knew that Hayley called Billy to tell him every thing that had happened, as he could help workout some of the kinks that occurred and so she could have an excuse to talk to him.

"Hayley seems to think so, but I'm still skeptical. She and Tommy have been the only ones keeping Goldar and Lord Zedd's creatures at bay. With the rest of us there, I'm not sure how she'll react," Billy said while Rocky and Aisha gave him an odd look. Why would them being there change anything with her?

"Why would it be different?" Rocky asked, as he was not following Billy on this one, not that it was a huge surprise that Billy had left him in the dust with his way of thinking.

"Tommy's depending on her out there and with the rest of us there, odd things could happen," Billy said, as Jason and Trini walked back into sight, not looking completely satisfied with their attempt to calm Conner.

Conner was having so much trouble with Kira being pulled away from him that he just didn't know what to think or do. It didn't matter that she would probably be fine, even if she was a little battered, he just knew that he had somehow let her down by not doing something. Yeah Dr. O held the best advice, as he knew how it felt to be in this situation time and time again, but he couldn't talk to him. He had enough on his mind right now without having to worry about his problems as well. He didn't matter as much as Kim did, from what he knew and Conner got the feeling that everyone else on the ship felt the same way when they went to talk to Dr. O, especially if Kim was in a bad mood.

"Conner still up there?" Billy asked, as he knew that he could have walked into the kitchen without them knowing. He was worried about the boy, but he knew that he was strong. He just hoped that he was strong enough to deal with this huge problem that was facing them right now.

"Yeah, he's pretty bad. I didn't know that he felt that way. I don't even know if Tommy knew about it until a few minutes ago," Jason said as they heard someone let out a yelp before then saw Adam jumping around, clutching his right foot.

"Damn, what's with the mouse traps?" Adam asked, as he had remembered them seeing a mouse or two last time they had been on the ship, although Aisha and Trini had been the only ones to break down because of the incident. Kim had been asleep when they had seen the mouse, but they still didn't know if she would have had the same reaction. She did teach and classrooms at school were known for having rats all over them.

"I'm not dealing with hearing anyone scream because of a mouse running out in the middle of the night. Just walk around the mouse traps. They are in the corners," Zack said, as Jason and Billy got this glint in their eyes, which he was sure was not a good thing for him.

"Well, what about your fear of bugs?" Jason teased as Billy and Trini joined in on the joke. They could remember very well the day that he had battled a spider, although he said he was over his fear of bugs, they could still play a good joke on him with a couple of plastic spiders and a cockroach or two.

"You're scared of bugs?" Ashley asked, as he looked over at her and then shook his head. They sure were not making themselves look as fearless as these kids expected, although they were getting the idea that they were just normal people with exceptional powers.

"Yes, I am. You can't tell me that you aren't though. We all have things that we fear," Zack said with a smile, as Charlie began to laugh, which caused Ashley to promptly smack him.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but remember the spider at the dojo," Charlie said as he continued to laugh and Rocky joined in on the joke.

"The thing was huge and I wouldn't have even gone in there if it wasn't for Dr. O forgetting our class," Ashley said, as Rocky shook his head, knowing that he had no choice but to explain the real reason behind Tommy missing classes.

They wouldn't be able to tell anyone else, but they would at least know the truth about why it had happened and they would possibly cut him some slack when he got back. No, there probably wouldn't be any more missions, but he did have to shut down the Command Center, which happened to be a huge job to undertake.

"He doesn't really forget your classes. He just has things come up. I'm sure that you can figure out what they are now," Rocky said, as he could see that they could now understand where he had been all of the times that he had forgotten about the schedule or ran in late or had to leave early.

"Hey, we saw that video yesterday, but it never explained what happened to Zordon. Is he still around?" Ashley asked, as she felt she needed to try to find out some more about their background. All she knew was that they were the first rangers and had been on at least two teams together, if not more.

"Zordon was our mentor. He died in order to defeat many evils for us, but there are some still left out there that he was unable to defeat. We are here to finish what he started. It's our job," Billy said, as the others nodded their heads in agreement. They couldn't really talk about it without becoming very emotional, but Billy had no tears left in him today, none of them did. They had all dealt with saying good-bye to people they loved and that zapped them more than anything else could right now.

"How did you deal with that?" Ashley asked, as it seemed they were going to avoid answering that question, but they were surprised when Tommy spoke up to answer the question. They had all thought that he had gone to sleep before Kim had.

"You don't. It just get a little bit easier and you forget more, until the day that it is thrown back at you. I thought I had left all of it behind, until she came back into my life," Tommy said tilting his head towards Kim, who was lightly snoring some against his chest and he couldn't help but gently chuckle at the sound. "I couldn't leave it, it was the truth for me and my life. Doing things like this, has become my life, no matter what I try to do to change it. I will always be a ranger, even when I no longer have powers to protect me from harm."

"I thought you were asleep," Aisha said with a laugh as Tommy shook his head, but did not move away from Kim. He knew better than to do that if he wanted her to stay asleep.

"I've learned how to get Kim to sleep if she's tired and I'm not ready to go to sleep. I act like I'm asleep and she'll go to sleep. It sounds stupid, but it works and I'm not going to change things until it stops working," Tommy said as Kim rolled closer to him and he stifled back another laugh, as he knew she would be mortified that her friends were hearing her snore and mumble things every once in awhile.

"We won't wake her, will we?" Trini asked as Tommy merely looked at her and then answered the question that Trini had posed to him.

"Angie didn't wake her up last night. She's been exhausted lately. I think the late night feedings and battles are finally getting to her," Tommy said before he closed his eyes, to actually try to get some sleep now.

"We better turn in for the night," Jason said, as he could tell Trini was tired and they needed all of the rest they could get over the next few days. Once the battles started, he knew that there was no guarantee that they would get any sleep until it was over and it might take several days for them to defeat the monsters.

"What about Conner?" Ashley asked, as he was sure to get cold out there sometime tonight.

"He'll be fine. He has a lot to think about and I'm sure that he'll come down here eventually. He just wants to get away from everyone," Jason said, as he and Trini bunked down next to each other and immediately fell asleep due to exhaustion.

_Conner's Thoughts_

"Man, it's cold out here," Conner muttered to no one in particular as he walked around the outside of their ship, trying to sort all of his thoughts out. He couldn't understand why he had fallen for Kira, but he knew that he had and he knew that there was no way to change it. "Why in the hell did this happen?"

_'Conner, don't blame yourself,'_ Kira's voice said in the back of his mind.

"Who's that? Who's there?" Conner asked, as he looked around and saw no one. Great, his mind had decided to start playing cruel tricks on him, this was not something that he needed right now. "This is great. I've lost the woman I love and my two best friends. Now my mind is playing tricks on me."

_'Listen to me, Conner. I don't know how you can hear me, but you've got to trust me here. We're fine, just get to me, damn it,'_ Kira's voice rang inside of his head as he ran as quickly as he could to the other side of the ship, trying to escape what was happening around him.

"Please, don't play with me like this Kira. I can't deal with knowing that you're not alright!" Conner screamed into the spaces as he began to shake, uncontrollably. "I love you! Don't let them hurt her!"

"Conner, wake up!" Ashley yelled, as she had heard him screaming downstairs and she was obviously the lightest sleeper of the group. She didn't want to deal with hearing him continue to have nightmares and she only hoped that it would calm down quickly.

"Oh God no," Conner said as he gave Ashley a hug and stayed like that as he cried against her.

"Conner, it's alright, everything's fine. Nothing has happened," Ashley said, as he looked up at her, scared to fall back to sleep. He couldn't deal with having another dream about Kira and he didn't know what he would do if that happened.

"They're playing with my mind," Conner said, as he looked at her and realized she was only wearing a sports bra and a pair of shorts. It didn't affect him in anyway, but he was sure that he would catch hell from Charlie if he happened to wake up anytime soon. "You better go back downstairs, Charlie wouldn't want me to see you like this."

"You shouldn't suffer alone, Conner. We need you, come on downstairs with me," Ashley pleaded.

"No, I just need to stay away from everyone. I don't want to bring everyone else down," Conner said as Ashley looked over at the boy who had still not moved away from her and then slowly let go of him, knowing that he had the right to refuse the offer.

"Alright, but you're not the only person this has ever happened to and they'll help you get through this," Ashley said, as she turned to go back downstairs, but she was stopped by Conner.

"I'm coming, hold up," Conner said as he scrambled to his feet and followed her. He didn't have to deal with this alone and now that he knew that for sure, he'd be all right.


	18. Another Day

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_The Trip: Day Two_

_Kim's POV_

I wish that I couldn't remember the last time that I was on this damn ship, but I do indeed remember that trip very well, too well now that I think about it. I never thought that I was going to have to get back on here again, especially to do this type of work again, but here I am going on another crazy mission that might possibly end my life and cause pain to those that I love and this time it includes a family that is depending on me. It just doesn't make sense that these missions always seem to be necessary. There must be another way around it, but until we figure out what it is we will have to do this, every time something goes seriously wrong.

So many good things happened that last time we had to do something similar to this situation. I found Tommy again; Trini and Jason finally admitted things to each other and we all became friends again. It was actually a pretty good mission to go on, even with having to fight a maniac.

They no longer had to worry about picking sides and pissing either Tommy or me off by talking to the other. They were able to be friends with the both of us again, which is a wonderful blessing for the two of us as well. We missed being with all of them and I know that I have been a better person since I have been able to be around my friends again without worrying about Tommy.

But along with the wonderful things that happened to us, a whole new slew of horrible things that I will remember for the rest of my life came into being. We defeated Nicarni-Aso like we had promised Zordon we would do when we didn't even know what we were going up against, but then Mesogogg came into being after Tommy went to get that doctorate. That was rough for all of us to handle, especially since things had just gotten back to normalf. We had just gotten through with the withdrawal symptoms and here it all was again. I was not bitter then, but I can't help but say that those feelings are boiling up right now. I'm kinda stressed.

I love Tommy, but this is something that inadvertently came from him going away to get his damn doctorate. That piece of paper does not mean that much to him and he admits he would give it back if Mesogogg would have never showed up in our lives. But I can still imagine him hunting down Tommy, just because it would be something that interested them. Tommy knows too much about things that he shouldn't and I know how much that interests those who wish that they knew half of what he does. Mesogogg would definitely be interested in him, we agreed on that much.

I however, can not dwell on these thoughts for too long, other things keep coming into my mind and they will not go away, no matter how hard I try to push them out of my mind. I want to be able to focus on what has to be done, what lies ahead of us, but I cannot find a way to do so with the things that do keep appearing in my mind. I've tried to block them out but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I know that Tommy can do it, he's had to do it, but I'm not him and I can't. I can't forget it all.

These memories are just too horrible to deal with now and I don't know how I will be able to deal with everything if this is the mission that turns out to be the one that ends it all for us. It's not that I'm worried about never being a ranger again, I'm worried about one of us dying, with so much left to go back to this time. We had nothing to go back to last time and this time we have everything in the world to go back to. I know we can't just leave it behind us and die this time, it wouldn't be fair.

I miss my baby, our baby, more than I ever thought that I would when it was time to do this particular mission. I knew it was coming and I knew I was going to have to do this, but I did not think it would be so soon. I thought she'd be older and I'd be more used to leaving her alone with a baby sitter or someone else, but this is what happened to us instead. I don't want to have to go forever without seeing her again, but it might happen if I'm not careful while I'm out there. We have to be more careful this time and I know that it is going to be harder, because our hearts are going to be somewhere else. We've never really had to deal with that problem before and I can only hope that it will not affect us in ways that we would never imagine it to.

I mean, we've dealt with this problem for years, in one form or another. Tommy and myself have almost died several times while trying to defeat some sort of evil that is threatening to take over the Earth, but we didn't have a child during all of those other times. I cannot deal with thinking that this might be the time that we don't make it home. That after all of the sacrifices that we have made in our lives up until now that we will lose our lives when we have finally began what we wanted to start so long ago. I have too much to lose if something like that happens to Tommy or me now. I don't want to leave Angie as an orphan or with only one parent and I can only pray that we will make it out of this mess alive, somehow.

"Kim, are you alright honey?" Tommy asked, as he put a jacket around her shoulders and he smiled down at her.

It was early and he was cold himself and he figured that she was going to be a little bit cold, considering how she had been on their patrol night the last time that they were on the ship. He had woken up to find that she was not next to him. He had gotten to where he had a hard time sleeping when she was not there and he figured she had not been up for very long. The place where she had slept was still warm and he knew that was a definite sign that she had just moved away from him, but that did not comfort him at all.

He couldn't find her downstairs, so he came up here, hoping to find her thinking about something insignificant. He didn't want to have to deal with some serious issue this early in the morning as he had never been a good morning person, but he had the feeling that things were heading that way from the way that she was acting. She was being distant towards him and that was never a good sign from her, unless she had changed and he had not noticed it over the last few months, which he did doubt that had happened. He just knew that the sooner that they talked the better because no one here could be on the outs with anyone as this mission was going to take an immense amount of focus and all of the strength that they had left within them to complete.

"Just thinking about Angie," Kim said, as she quickly wiped her face and then turned away from him, although she didn't really understand why she didn't want him to see her cry. That had never been something that she was ashamed to do in front of him.

It hurt her to be around him right now and she didn't know how he would deal with being so close to her, as she doubted it would be the same way that she would deal with it. He always wanted to comfort her, but she couldn't take comforting this time, it was not what she wanted from him. He needed her and she needed him, but him being Angie's father made it hard to be around him when everything else seemed to be so horrible. How could she be around someone who had caused her so much happiness and so much pain all at the same time? It made no sense to her why she was the one to feel this way, but her only explanation was the train of thought that she had to live under for several years. She had tried to break herself from it and managed to do so when things were good, but when things went bad, there was nothing that she could really do but revert to her comfortable ways. She hated that, but it was the truth of the matter.

"She's fine, Kim. It's you that I'm really worried about right now. You know Katherine, Hayley, and Ally will take good care of her while we're here, trying to do all of this. I wouldn't have left her with people that we don't trust. You just seem really distant, sweetie," Tommy said, as he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and let his hand gently rest on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're fine?"

He wanted her to calm down and just let him hold her and take everything away, to let him feel as if he mattered in her heart again. She had been pushing her away ever since last night, when she had shrugged his arm off of her when they went to sleep and he couldn't help but try to touch her. It made him ache for him to be this close but not be able to touch her the way he wished. He just wanted to give her some comfort that she desperately needed, but she did not seem to want to let him do that. It seemed like she was mad at him about something, but he could not honestly say that he remembered doing anything to make her mad, as he had allowed her to take her time letting go of Angie last night, although that extra time might be hurting their rangers. There were just some things that he knew had to be done a certain way, but now he had to talk to her, even if she didn't want to talk about any of it.

"I'm fine, I promise Tommy," Kim managed to croak out as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder and then he moved away, trying to not mentally break down. He had been rejected by her before, but this was not one of the best times for her to reject him. He could not take her being mad at him right now, no matter what anyone else thought about the matter. He depended on her; he always had done that, ever since the first day that he met her so many years ago.

Tommy buried his face in his hands as he began to cry, he needed her right now, but she was so upset about leaving Angie on Earth that she couldn't feel those emotions running through him. She usually was so good at it, but she was in another place and he felt it was selfish to try to pull her out of it. He knew what she was feeling, he was going through the same thing, but he didn't want to push her away from him because of it. He wanted her to tell him what was going on in her mind and then just let him try to take the worries away. He felt it was his job to do that, even if she didn't like that he felt that way about her problems. It was now their problems, whether she liked it or not.

"No, you're not and you won't let me help you feel better. You won't let me love you past all of this," Tommy whispered as Kim's own shoulders began to shake with the tears that were beginning to flow out of her eyes. She knew that what he was saying was right, but she didn't want to be close to him, it hurt, not that he would understand why it hurt her so much.

She didn't want him to remind her of Angie, she didn't want anything close to her to remind her of her baby, even if it meant leaving Tommy out of her life for a few days. She saw so much of Angie in Angie's father and her husband that it just hurt to be around him, to look at him the way that she always had. His eyes, his smile, and even the way that he would look at her sometimes, she had seen Angie do so much of that while she was at home with her. Yes, she was not even a month old, but that child had so much of Tommy in her that it hurt to see it in him, when she wanted to be with her baby, instead of on another mission.

"Tommy, it hurts too much. She's yours too. What happens if we never make it back to her? What happens if we die out there this time?" Kim cried as he gathered her in a tight hug, while crying himself. He knew that last night they had only stopped their crying for a short while, but he had to get her to stop thinking about it today. He knew that they had no choice about how many more tears that they could spare, they had to get it all out now and then try to act normally. They both had a job to do and if they didn't do it, her fears might come true and he didn't want that to happen. He couldn't lose her, but she couldn't lose him either and he knew it. It would kill either of them if it happened this time and they would be no good to go back home to their child if the other was dead and couldn't even be buried because they had been blown to smithereens by some weapon that no one knew about. "I don't know if I could deal with going back home without you or knowing that she might not even have any parents left after that damn battle that we have to fight, Tommy."

"Kim, we'll come back to her. I promise, but you can't lose faith in me and the other rangers now. We have defeated people that are stronger than these people in the past with a lot less. Beautiful, please, I know that we can do this…" Tommy managed to say before he let out a broken sob, which caught her off guard. She was not aware that he had been crying along with her. She just thought that he was mad at her for trying to push him away because he reminded her of Angie, although he didn't know that was her reason for it.

"Handsome," Kim muttered, as he continued to hold her as tightly as he could without hurting her, although it provided little comfort to either of them right now. There were only a few things that would provide him comfort and that was one but not in a situation like this one. He needed more, but it was something that he couldn't ask her to give right now, when she was so emotionally stressed. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. She's my baby too and I love her as much as I love you. I can't lose either of you, Kimberly, don't push me away from you. The two of you are my life," Tommy cried, as Aisha walked up to tell them breakfast was ready, but stopped short as she saw them.

Aisha couldn't make her feet turn to leave them alone, but she also couldn't make her mouth open to tell them the message that she had for them. There was just something that kept her feet planted in the position that they were in and kept her silent, as she was sure that she shouldn't be seeing this. She had thought that she might see them talking, but her mental picture had not been to see Tommy crying the way that he was now. She had only seen that once before and it hurt then and it sure as hell hurt now to see him like that. He was their strong one, no matter what anyone else said to them, he always had been that person for the group and when he suffered, they all suffered.

"I can't be as strong as you want me to be Tommy. I just can't this time. I'm not able to do this again," Kim sobbed as Tommy continued to rock her back and forth, knowing she had almost given up on them this time, but she hadn't done that yet. He could hear it in her voice that she was still making a decision.

He had seen it happen before with her, but he had prayed that this would not be a mission that she would be close to having a mental breakdown on. He had secretly hoped during the last mission that she would have broken down, as they would have had plenty of time to solve it, but right now they didn't. They all needed to be focused and every time they broke down was a time that things were not being done that needed to be worked upon.

"Kim, you told me that evil couldn't take my powers away and these things cannot take your faith in this away. After everything that we have all been through to get here, you can't give up. They won't hurt either of you, I promise you that. I'll do anything to keep that from happening. You told me you didn't love me anymore, but I had faith that it was a lie, that there was more behind it than that. Have faith in this Beautiful. It can be done and we can get out of this alive," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him and then kissed him on the cheek as she could not stand to see him sob in front of her the way that he was sobbing now.

He always seemed to be the strongest one out of the two of them, but he couldn't hold up when she was mad at him or irritated with him. She could break him down faster than anything else ever could and she hated and loved having that ability with him. At times, it was an advantage, but this was not one of those times. She couldn't stand to see him like this and she got the feeling that this was what she needed to snap out of her misery. He was in the same boat too.

"Please stop, Tommy. I can't take seeing you like this," Kim said as he looked into her eyes and then readied himself for what he had to say to her. He didn't like to twist her words against her, but it was the only thing that he could think to do right now that would remotely mean anything to her.

"I can't," Tommy said simply, while continuing to cry as he looked down into her eyes with a tender smile lingering on his lips. He was not going to leave those as his last words to her, but he knew that this would sink in better than most other things that he could say to her. "I don't want you mad at me. I can't stand it when you are mad at me. I just want this to be gone from our life, for Angie to be able to grow up like a normal child would. I don't want her to know about this or to ever have to deal with knowing that her parents are rangers, the secret that she would have to keep, and all of the responsibilities she would have because of her knowing that. I don't want her to worry the way that the two of us have about each other in things like this situation. This is the absolute least that we can give her right now; she deserves the chance at a normal life that we never got to have. Please, tell me that you love me and that you'll finish what we started those years ago."

"I love you and we are going to finish this," Kim said, as Zack walked up the stairs to see what was keeping Aisha from coming back downstairs.

He was starting to get worried about her and he could only hope that nothing had happened up there. What he saw was not what he had expected, but he could deal with this one. If she had been up there fighting some things that took Kim and Tommy, he was afraid that he would have to whoop some thing's ass and then march downstairs to inform everyone else about what had happened to their fearless leaders.

"That is what will get us through this Kim. The fact that we love each other," Tommy said, as Kim gave him a kiss and then he held her tightly, not wanting to let go of her. He needed some extra comfort from her right now and he hoped that she was all right with the way he was holding her, even if their friends might come up onto the deck at anytime. He could remember doing far worse in front of them and if he was gauging things correctly a little hug would not bother her at all.

"Breakfast is ready," Zack said, as he ushered Aisha back downstairs and then saw Kim and Tommy drying their eyes as quickly as they could manage. They didn't know how long Zack and Aisha had been standing there, but there was enough time there that they had probably heard some of, if not all of what they had said to each other.

"Trini, you're not hungry?" Jason asked as Kim and Tommy walked into the room with all eyes on them. They knew that this was not odd, but it had been a long time since that had happened when they entered a room. Their friends had gotten used to them entering a room together and late most of the times, although it had been awhile since they had looked like this. It also didn't help that Aisha and Zack had probably told them about their crying spell, but they didn't care. They would all be fine and it was needed this morning.

"No, I just feel queasy this morning," Trini said and they all took it as the powers playing with Trini some. They all felt a little bit off after getting these powers back again, but it seemed that Trini was the most affected by the power change. Several of them had thought that it would have been Kim, but she was doing fine and now they were switching their conservation efforts to Trini, who was not very happy to have those focused on her. She wanted to fight since she had not been able to help much last time, but it seemed that they were all wary of that choice. If she was not up to it, then they didn't need to let her do it, although it ultimately was her choice on what she was going to do when they went out to fight, whether they liked it or not. "I'll be fine, Jase."

"Alright," Jason said, as Kim sat down next to him and gave him an odd look before starting to eat her breakfast.

She was not buying what Trini was saying, but there was nothing she could do about that now. She was going to talk to her friend at the first chance that she had, but it might be quite awhile before that happened, as Jason was not going too far away from Trini at anytime. He had seemed to pick up on something being off, but he just couldn't get out of her what it might be, although Kim was getting a fairly good idea of what it could be.

"Alpha contacted us a little while ago and he's found them within the barriers of Nonatasion, but the problem is that the area seems to be hazy. They could be underground or anywhere really with how hazy it is, but we do have somewhere to start looking once we get there," Billy said as they all shook their heads. Solving this problem was not going to be as simple as they had hoped it would be, but it never seemed that they were able to get away with doing things the easy way. The easy way had never come to them through all of their trials and they honestly did not expect for things to become easy on them now.

"So it's going to be luck to find them at all," Conner said, bluntly, as Billy started to shake his head yes, but stopped with the look that Tommy was giving him.

The boy had just gotten himself together and Tommy wanted to keep it that way as long as he could. If Conner had a reoccurrence of his actions from last night, Tommy was not very sure that he would be able to control his own emotions against the boy. He had been in the situation and he really didn't want to have to recount all of the disasters that he had been through with Kim being taken away in order to make Conner understand that they were going to get there, even if it did take them a little while and even if it did try all of the patience that he had.

"No, we'll be able to find a way to get to them. It just may take us a little while longer than expected," Billy said as Conner looked over at him and shrugged it off as the fact that Tommy was trying to keep him sane for a few more hours. He didn't know what he would do once they landed on Nonatasion and it seemed that Dr. O understood that all too well. The longer he was able to think though, the better, and he had figured that much out on his own this morning, while he had been unable to sleep without the horrible nightmares.

"Why were you crying?" Jason whispered to Kim as to not attract anymore attention to the matter. They had all noticed that the two of them had puffy eyes, but most of them thought it was from the night before. Jason could tell it was fresh on her, as Kim never really was able to show that she had been crying unless she had been sobbing for several hours the day before and it had not been that long yesterday. She must have just cried and he could only hope that it was not over something that they couldn't fix.

"We were just talking about a touchy subject," Kim said as Jason looked at Tommy, who was steadily eating the food in front of him without a thought going to too much else. He couldn't think of much else while he was eating, as he knew that in order to block things from his memory that he would have to put his full concentration in whatever he was doing. That was never an easy thing to do, but it saved him a lot of pain that he could not take at the moment. He was already worried about the rangers and worrying about his baby did not make it any easier.

"Angie?" Jason asked, quietly, as Kim nodded her head and then turned to eat her own food. She didn't really want to bring it back up right now, as she was trying to mentally prepare herself for everything that was still left to come before all of this was over. It could be more than a week before she heard from anyone and she just had to be able to take it, even if it did cause her a great deal of pain. "Sorry to bring it up."

"I'll be fine. It's just going to take me a little while to be all right with it all," Kim said, as they heard Hayley's voice boom out over the ship's intercom system, which was a welcome voice to Billy's ears after everything he had experienced last night. He wanted to hear from her, even if it was not in private. Her voice comforted him and right now, he needed all of the comfort that he could get. Things did not look good for them at all and he had to be able to continue to lie to some of the younger rangers, which was something that had never been easy for him.

"Tommy, Kim. I just wanted to tell you that Angie's fine and you don't need to worry, we're taking care of her," Hayley said.

Kim took a deep breath to compose herself and then walked to the bathroom, knowing that she was not going to be able to do that without shedding a few more tears. She didn't want to upset Tommy anymore and he seemed to realize it would be in his best interest to give her some space for a few minutes. That was one thing that she loved about him, he was able to realize when she needed her space and she needed that right now.

"Do you have any other news?" Adam asked, as he knew that he would like to hear Katherine's voice, but doubted he would be lucky enough to get his not so ingenious plan to work.

"No, Adam," Katherine said as he jerked to where he could make sure he was hearing this right. He knew Rocky would want to hear Ally, but he doubted that she was together enough to talk. She had been very upset last night and if he knew her well enough, he was sure that she was still trying to pull herself together this morning. She did not like this ranger business and she had made that fairly clear to Rocky the evening before. "Now, you have to concentrate. We'll talk to you this evening if we get the chance."

"Does Principal Randall know why I'm out of school today?" Tommy asked, as he had forgotten to telephone in an excuse last night before they left and he hoped that Hayley would have remembered to cover his ass. If she hadn't, he would be in a pile of trouble, no matter what he tried to do to convince everyone that he was deathly ill. After a few weeks, it wouldn't matter and he would have to cop to his real reason, which was something that no one would believe, as he would never morph in front of them.

"She will," Hayley said and then cut out the intercom system so Tommy would not cuss her out.

"Should have known that we all would forget," Tommy muttered as Jason laughed at his comment. He had figured that something like this was bound to come up with Tommy, but he was the only one that people had come to expect it out of when they went on things like this.

"Well, I didn't even talk to my boss, she wasn't home when I called last night, so I may not have a job when I get back," Jason muttered to Tommy as he stared in disbelief. Jason had always been a responsible person, except when he had to leave to go on ranger duties. Then, he just did what he had to do and that often meant leaving some things unattended. His job, however, had never been one of those things until today.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Tommy asked removing his and Kim's plates from the table and then going to sit out on the deck, so he could think in semi-quietness for a little while. He knew he would not get that downstairs, no matter how much he tried or where he went. They all had so many things to talk about and he was sure that Ashley and Charlie had more questions that they wanted answered by them, although there were some things that would never receive a blunt answer.

"No and I'm not telling her. There is no need to worry her about that," Jason said as Trini emerged from the bathroom, feeling slightly better, but Kim was getting the feeling this was not some bug, but she prayed she was wrong. She had no clue how Jason would react to that sort of news right now.

"Can we talk?" Aisha asked, as Zack and Billy were in a conversation, but she was eager to get what was on her mind off her chest. She knew Billy would forgive her for interrupting the conversation, as he wanted the two of them to get along. They were both his friends and he just wanted them to be happy.

"Go on. I have plenty of work to do down here," Billy said as he wanted for them to be able to talk this out as soon as they could.

"I just wanted to hear you out. You seemed to have more you wanted to say to me last night," Aisha said, as they saw Tommy propped up against the railing and they continued away from him.

He seemed to be in his own world and they knew it was best to leave it that way. He was never very happy when someone broke him out of whatever thoughts that were drifting around in his head and they knew that much from the experience of accidentally doing that in the past.

"I do have a lot to say," Zack said as Aisha nodded her head and thought about what he was going to begin to tell her. She knew with him that it could be anything and prepared herself for the worst, but secretly hoped for the best. "I messed up. Most of my past girlfriends didn't mean as much to me as you do and they never asked me to settle down and commit to them and only them. You scared me when you started talking about marriage. I didn't know that it was normal for me to be scared shitless and Tommy and Kim's relationship was not normal enough for me to think they'd been through the same thing. But when I asked Tommy about it, he told me that he felt the same way, which did surprise me. Aisha, I screwed up, I know that I did, but you can't tell me that you don't care about me anymore."

"Zack," Aisha muttered as she sat down on a crate from shock. She had thought that he would have something else to talk about, like the normal conversation that they had, had lately. It had contained mostly arguments and a lot of those arguments led to problems that left them without anything to say to the other.

She loved him, but she didn't want to talk to him unless he was ready to settle down and it seemed that he had finally realized that he would lose her if he was not willing to settled down with her. She'd go on with her life and leave him in the same situation that Tommy had been in for years. She didn't want to do that to him, but she had no other choice, as she could not continue to act as if she was satisfied with just being his girlfriend and nothing more.

"I know, I owe you more than just a simple apology, but I'm going to try to do better. If you'll just give me that chance, please one more chance to prove this to you," Zack said as Aisha looked at him and then saw something flash by out of the corner of her eye, which was odd. No one on this ship would move around that quickly unless they were fighting and they knew better than to train on the outer deck, as they would scare some of them into possibly overreacting and no one wanted to deal with Tommy's wrath.

"Zack, what was that?" Aisha asked as he turned around and saw a group of puddies standing behind him and then was grabbed by them.

Aisha began to fight as Tommy ran to help them, shouting for the others to come as quickly as they could. It was never good when they were ambushed on their own ship, but this was definitely much worse than they had imagined. These puddies might not be as easily destroyed as the ones in the past and they could only pray that they would get rid of them quickly.

"What the hell? Guys we need some help," Conner said as the puddies started after him as well. Kim and Charlie ran up the stairs right behind him and stared at all of the puddies knowing that this was not a good situation for them to be put in right now. Charlie just hoped someone would have the sense to tell him where to start, as he didn't really have a clue as to what he needed to do right now.

"Holy crap," Kim said as a crate was thrown at her, but Tommy managed to catch it before it smashed into her body. He had been watching for when they would emerge and he knew the puddies would figure out that the crates were great projectiles and use them as weapons, until the rangers turned that against them as well.

"Be careful," Tommy muttered as he went in one direction and she went in another one while Jason and Trini stared at the situation in front of them before they went into battle. It was sometimes best to map things out but there was no way that they would be able to do that this time, they just needed to get the damn creatures off of this ship, so that they could be on their merry way.

"Kim, jump!" Zack yelled as Kim was crowded towards the edge of the crates and had no choice. She knew Tommy would freak when he saw her do this, but she had no other option that would help her get out of the predicament she was in. She couldn't fight from up there and if she fell, there was a chance that she would not land in a comfortable position.

"Catch me," Kim said, as she jumped and landed in Zack's arms then they quickly moved out of the way, as the puddies had been following her. They were dumb enough to do that and the two of them could only hope that it would destroy a few of them when they took the jump. "Thanks."

"No problem," Zack said as Kim kicked a puddy and then pushed Zack down to the ground as she had seen a golden flash, which could only be one thing. They did not want Lord Zedd to know how many of them they had back and they were going to keep it that way as long as they could.

"Stay here, I think I just saw Goldar. He doesn't know that the rest of you are back and we want to keep it that way. Only come out if we call you to," Kim whispered before she went off to find Tommy. She could only hope that he'd be able to hide the others if she was right about whom it was stalking around on the ship. They couldn't risk revealing that there were more than five active Power Rangers on this ship, but it might happen if they were unable to get Goldar to leave without a huge fight.

"Okay," Zack whispered as he slipped towards the stairs in order to try to protect what was down there. They couldn't risk them getting down there and putting wiretaps or some other sort of device down there. The things that they talked about were not only personal, but they could also make their plans very evident to Lord Zedd and they did not want that to happen. They needed it to be a surprise, so that they would be able to have some sort of advantage on their planet.

"Tommy, nice to see you again. I didn't think you would be so alone," Goldar said as Kim walked up behind him and placed a finger over her mouth to let Tommy know that he shouldn't mention she was there. She knew that Jason and Trini were hiding behind a couple of crates only a few feet away, but Goldar still had his attention on only Tommy. Conner, Ashley, and Charlie were fighting the puddies, but they had no clue who else was around and ready to spring out and help the moment that they were called upon.

"Nice to see you, what do you want to do with us?" Tommy asked as Kim stood still and waited for an opportunity to push Goldar towards Tommy and let him take care of it, if only Goldar would move a little bit closer. She couldn't risk making any noise that might make him attack her, so she could only hope that he would make an attempt to flee from Tommy without turning around. Then, he would be caught between the two of them and forced to choose who to go up against.

"To deliver this item to you. I'm sure it'll keep you busy," Goldar said dropping the package in front of Tommy and then leaving the ship along with the puddies. Tommy looked at the package, wondering what it was, but he knew better than to reach down and get it without Billy looking at it first. Billy could at least tell them if it looked to contain something that they would have to destroy immediately and a more detailed examination would reveal whether or not it held anything else.

"Don't touch it," Tommy said as Charlie went to pick up the object, but snatched his hand back as soon as he heard Tommy talk. Tommy knew more than he did and he was not taking his chances against the man, as he did not want to make him very mad. "We'll get Billy to look at it before we do anything to it."

"Trini, come on, let's go ahead and fix lunch for everybody. It's going to take them hours to figure out if that thing is just some stupid joke or something much more serious. You know that as well as I do," Kim said as Trini looked over at her and then followed her downstairs.

They all got the feeling Zack and Aisha needed some time alone as they went into the other room that was downstairs and they were more than happy to allow them to have that time alone. If they could manage to straighten things out before they landed on Nonatasion that would be one less thing they would have to worry about going wrong.

"Nothing sounds good to me anymore," Trini said as Kim looked at her and then bit her lip trying to decide whether or not to state her thoughts about this interesting situation. Trini probably wasn't going to like what she had to say, but she couldn't help but notice some changes in her friend that she had experienced a few months ago. If her hunch was correct, then Trini didn't even need to be here in the first place.

"Don't kill me for asking this, but you aren't pregnant, are you?" Kim asked pulling out some lettuce and a bag of frozen, battered chicken to fry, while avoiding eye contact with Trini.

Trini had not been bold enough to ask her that question when she had been throwing up in the bathroom, but she knew that there was much more at risk than just going up against some puddies. If Trini was pregnant, the baby could die the first time that she morphed with these powers and Kim knew it. She had been lucky to get the break while she was pregnant with Angie, but they all knew that there was a possibility that she could have lost her at any time and they were all glad she didn't. They didn't know if they would have been able to handle that sort of tragedy.

"Well we're not trying, but I don't know if I am, Kim. I didn't notice it until everyone started asking questions," Trini said as Kim passed a tomato over to her and then began pouring oil into a fryer.

Trini watched Kim's actions, trying to see if she could figure out what Kim was thinking right now. Her friend knew her better than anyone else, besides Jason, but this seemed so far fetched, although now that she thought about it, it certainly explained a lot of things that had been happening lately.

"Hold it, you're telling me that you might be pregnant? Why didn't you get Jason to take you do the doctor? He would have done that without a question on his part. How sure are you?" Kim whispered as she did not want to have anyone else hear and it get back to Jason before Trini had a chance to talk to him. It wouldn't be good for her if that happened and Kim was pretty sure that Jason would come after her as well, if he knew that she suspected it and had not told him about it. He had always wanted a family and it seemed as if that might happen, whether or not he was ready for it.

"I didn't think about it until I was around everyone. That was when I noticed how different I was acting. Jason hasn't been at home enough to notice anything and ask me about it. The only time we spend together anymore is when we are in bed and we haven't slept together in weeks because of how busy he is," Trini said, as Kim got the full view of exactly how busy Jason had been.

Kim was fairly sure Trini would still have her job when she went back, she had called in for her two week vacation, but there was a chance Jason wouldn't, from what Tommy had said this morning. She was fairly sure Trini didn't know that and if she was pregnant, Jason sure as hell was not going to tell her that. He needed to have a job if they were going to have a baby and she was sure that he was going to try to keep it if he found out.

"I'm sorry about that, but what happens if we really have to fight? These powers do things to you when you're pregnant and I know that from personal experience, Trini. It's not pleasant to have to deal with it and you have to be careful. It could hurt the baby," Kim said, as she placed some eggs in a boiler full of water. She also knew it was not wise for Trini to even teleport if she was pregnant, much less do anything else with her powers. She just hoped that she could get that point across to Trini, as she could be stubborn, sometimes.

"Well, unless you happen to carry a pregnancy test around with you at all times, then I just have to go on like things are normal. Jason would kill me if that is true and I'm here. You don't know how much he wanted us to start a family, but all of this kept on getting in the way. I would hate to put him through this now," Trini said, bitterly, as Jason and Tommy walked into the kitchen carrying the package that Goldar had left for all of them.

"Well, we know that it's not a bomb or anything of that nature, but if you don't mind trying to figure out exactly what it is Billy, that way we won't be fooled next time," Tommy said as Billy took the object and went to run additional scans on it. They all knew that the appearances of these objects did not necessarily reveal what was in them, but these scans would hopefully do that for them.

"You alright?" Jason asked as Trini headed back towards the bathroom hoping to find something in there to disprove Kim's theory. She, however, was getting this feeling in the pit of her stomach that Kim was right about her assumption on this one. She had been through it and it seemed that she was fairly sure about what was going on with her. "Trini?"

"I just want to see if we have something in here," Trini said as Kim looked over at Tommy who knew that was extremely odd, but the look his wife was giving him told him not to ask about it at the moment. She would have a chance to explain all of it to him later.

"What type of something?" Jason asked, as he walked after Trini, which left Kim and Tommy alone in the kitchen.

She needed to talk to him, but she was not sure how he would take hearing all of what she had learned. Tommy was never one that would deal well with it and they all knew exactly what that meant if things went horribly wrong with Trini. She could lose the baby and then there was no telling the amount of guilt she would feel for it and she didn't need to have to deal with that sort of pressure.

"You look like you know a secret that no one else is supposed to know," Tommy said with a smile as Kim gave him a grim look and he knew that she was not very happy with all of the information that she now knew. He had seen that look before and he prayed it did not mean what he thought it did. He had become suspicious too and he did not know if he wanted to face this possibility right now.

"It's a secret and a problem," Kim said, as she stirred the chicken and checked on the eggs, while trying to stay as calm as she possibly could.

"How big of a problem?" Tommy asked, as there were several problems that went on that he, as the leader, didn't need to know about, but there were some problems that only he needed to know about. If this was one of those problems, he was not sure that he could handle hearing about it today.

"It could be huge, but I don't know anything for sure. Don't talk to Jason about what I am going to tell you, but Trini might be pregnant," Kim whispered as Tommy dropped his communicator which he had been switching between his hands out of nervous habit.

He had expected to be shocked, but this was not what he had expected her to say to him. He had expected her to say something along the lines of Trini being mad at Jason, but not her possibly being pregnant with their child. This was not a good thing to have happen right now, but he couldn't get mad at them if she was pregnant. None of them had known when this battle would come and it could have been anyone, but it was Trini.

"Might be? As in she doesn't now, but she could be or this idea is something that you came up with on your own?" Tommy asked as he dropped his voice and bent over to where Jason couldn't hear what he said, even if he did walk back into the room.

"The first one, Tommy," Kim said as he looked at her and then pulled a stool to sit down on from the shock of hearing this sort of news.

"But we can't tell Jason? Don't you want to protect the baby if she is pregnant? You know he'd want to know, Kim. It's his child too," Tommy said while Kim looked down to pick a few pieces of shredded cheese off the floor, so that she would be able to have time to formulate an answer. In all honesty, she did, but she also understood that Trini might get cursed out for all of this if she was not careful. She didn't want that to happen to her best friend and she knew that if she was pregnant that that sort of stress would not help her any.

"I do, but she doesn't know that and what do you think Jason will do if he finds out?" Kim asked, as she could imagine him blowing up at Trini and that certainly wouldn't help the situation in the least bit. He needed to be calm and right now he was anything but that.

"If I find out what?" Jason asked with as smile as Trini gave Kim a look and then saw Tommy looking at the way she was protecting her stomach, although she didn't notice it. Kim had inadvertently done the same thing before she knew and he expected it out of Trini, although Jason wouldn't look for it. The only people that would were those that had seen their wife have a child and he had recently witnessed that event.

"My secret," Trini said as Jason looked at Tommy but he knew that Tommy was not going to say anything to him about it as Kim must have sworn him to secrecy. Tommy didn't break promises to Kim, no matter what they were and he knew better than to try to cross the line with Tommy.

"Will I ever find out this secret?" Jason asked while Trini smiled and shook her head yes. She had managed to find a pregnancy test but she couldn't do that until she was able to be alone for a long time, as Jason would get worried about her spending that long in the bathroom. "Oh, what is it?"

"You might get mad, so until I know everything you will know nothing," Trini said as Kim watched Jason look as if he was going to start pouting, but he decided to stop when he saw Trini was fixing some French fries for those who did not want a salad. He had never been a huge fan of salads and he knew that she was the only one that would do that for him, so he chose to keep his mouth shut.

"Tommy, come here," Billy said as he had looked at the box and discovered what Goldar had given them. He did not like the contents that the box contained and he was certain that Tommy would not be very happy.

"What? Did you find anything?" Tommy asked as he didn't really want to have to deal with this situation, but it seemed that he was going to have to deal with it no matter what he really wanted.

"They've taken their dino gems. They sent back the empty communicator shells," Billy said as Tommy looked around the room trying to find something to punch or yell at besides Billy, who was just the bearer of bad news. Tommy had imagined that they would do something like this, but they sure had a lot of audacity to send them the empty communicator shells.

"Contact Hayley and tell them to keep a sharp eye on their scans. If they disappear, we may have to teleport some of us in, in order to keep them from getting hurt," Tommy said, as Billy shook his head. There were so many of them on the ship that they could risk a few people being sent out in order to protect those that were inside of Lord Zedd's reign of terror. If they were not willing to do that, then there was really no use in being there. All of the rangers had risked something in the past and they were willing to risk it all, just to get three of their own back home.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and please review, if you get the chance.I am open to criticism and as long as it is not too bad, I'll take it to heart. I hope you've had a happy holidays and thanks for reading!


	19. Loneliness

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, and Mrs. Thornsby. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Loneliness_

_Kira's POV_

It has been a long time since I have seen anyone that I really wanted to see around me, besides Trent and Ethan, although they are not much help. They are even beginning to try my nerves, but getting along with each other is the only way that we will survive. Ever since we landed in this hell hole, things have gone straight downhill for us, not that we really expected it to get any better while we were here, but one can always hope. We hoped that it wouldn't be as miserable as it is, but that is beginning to fade away as well.

They took away our morphers and our communicators on the first day, not that this is abnormal, according to what Dr. O told us about them being captured in the past. It is that we just all have the feeling that they have removed the dino gems and are trying to de-bond them from our bodies, hoping to make us weak. The only reason we can tell that that might be going on, is because we are all getting increasingly weak, which means their plan is working.

They have been feeding us, which was a concern as we had heard the horror stories of having to go several days without meals or any water. We knew from those stories that these people mean business and anything that could weaken us is to their advantage, but it seems that they want to keep us as mentally stable as possible, for some odd reason. If they decide that they want to turn us evil, us being stable will be an advantage to how well that will work, although that may mean we will be able to fight it off, on some unknown level.

Enough about that crap, there are other things that are on my mind right now. Well, actually it's not things, it's a person that is on my mind right now. I know that it seems crazy, but I feel as if Conner is here with us, although I know he is not, I know he is on that ship coming to rescue us. I know that he is safe with the rest of the rangers, wherever that happens to be at the moment is still a question though.

It's just odd some of the dreams that I have had in this place, I can never say that I have had dreams like this before, even when I first got my powers and started feeling the connection to the other rangers. I just don't know what they might mean. I dreamt that Conner was on the ship and was upset about something, I couldn't figure out what, but he seemed as if he was hearing things and I can only pray that Lord Zedd is not trying to mess with his mind. I know that he has so much stress on him right now that it might really cause him to have a mental breakdown. I know that he doesn't need to go through something like that right now and I know that if he is not careful, he may put himself into a position where that is the only option. I just hope that the others have noticed how fragile he is right now.

I guess that I never wanted to admit that I was falling for Conner, but I saw it happening right in front of me, and I didn't realize all of the things that I was doing as well. I thought that it was just one sided for a long time, then I took a good look at myself, I was leading it on and enjoying it as well. It's odd how much those little things mean to you when the are suddenly gone from your daily life. I now understand why Dr. O and Kim freak out each time the other disappears.

Conner would give me these looks after a battle where I had been hit particularly hard, as if he was silently asking me if I was all right and I would just nod, understanding what it meant, but thinking it was just friendliness and the ranger connection. Or some afternoon, he'd just walk me home, for no real reason other than he just wanted to talk about how things were going at school or about something that he was doing that weekend, which was something I usually wound up doing with him, even while I was dating Trent. Trent was always working at Hayley's and the two of us just found things to do.

I didn't think that I would really be friends with these people once I was done with being a ranger. I had never talked to them befoer I became a ranger, so why would I want to when I left? I know that that is not the case now. I can't imagine my life without them and I hope that I will be able to get back to Conner in one piece, so I can tell him how I feel, as I have held it back for such a long time, without even knowing it was there.

"Mornin' Sunshine," Kira said brightly, as Ethan tried to blink away the sleep as he woke up to another dark and dismal morning in their dungeon of despair. He had stopped hoping that it was only a dream after the second night, it was too real for him to continue to hope something that unrealistic.

Kira had taken on the job as the official to keep their spirits up, no matter what happened to them while they were here. They had, had almost everything taken away from them, but as long as they were together, they would be able to fight back whatever came towards them or at least that was what they hoped would happen. They didn't know how they would do without their powers against these creatures and they weren't exactly sure that they wanted to try their luck against them anytime soon. They wanted to know that help was near-by before they tried anything too drastic.

"What is so good about today, Kira that you are so chipper?" Ethan asked as he looked over at her and tried to stretch out his back, which caught in a position that pained him more than usual.

The floors here were not exactly ideal to sleep on, but they were just happy that they could sleep without worrying about someone coming in and attacking them. It seemed that they wanted to lure the other rangers in and then try to do something to them, instead of the ones that they had. It seemed as if they knew it would hurt the rangers more if they were mere minutes late, not days late, although they wanted to survive this ordeal. They knew that no other rangers had been lost and they did not want to be the first on that list.

"We're alive," Kira said as she reached over and rubbed Ethan's back so that he would be able to move around without too much pain. She had woken up with a similar cramp, but he seemed to be suffering more than she was with his cramp, but that might have been because there was someone else awake, besides him. "And they are one day closer to getting here. You can't tell me that is not good news."

"Yeah, but how do we know that they are even coming after us? Are we really worth the risk of all of them possibly being killed? Dr. O and Kim have a baby, I don't think they are really going to be that willing to risk their lives for us. I mean, they don't want to get killed and miss the life that they could have had. It wouldn't make any sense for them to do that," Ethan said as Kira gave him a harsh look. She knew that they were coming to help get them out of this place. They had traveled for three days to get to Trini and she was sure that they would travel as long as necessary to get them out of this hellhole un-scarred. It was their mission, they just had to hold on until they were able to get there.

"Trust me, they are coming after us and we just have to be patient and wait. They are going to need as much help as they can get from us when they come to get us," Kira said as Trent rolled over and looked up to see the two of them talking. They had long since stopped trying to listen to any other conversations that were going on in this place and they just focused on keeping each other in good spirits, which happened to be a full time job.

"Well, I just hope that they will leave us alone as long as that takes," Trent said as Kira nodded her head in agreement. If these beings decided that they needed to aggravate them, they might have to try something crazy, which could make the rangers' trip worthless with the possible consequences.

"Me too," Kira said, as they heard the door open and they went quiet, not knowing who might be coming in to see them. They had been lucky enough to avoid seeing Lord Zedd, Mesogogg, or Rita, but they feared that they would have to see them before their stay here was over.

_The Command Center_

"Shh, Angie, it's alright," Ally said as she rocked Angie back and forth trying to get her crying to cease. She had been very fussy the last few days and from what Alpha could tell, it was because of some odd phenomenon that none of them knew existed. It seemed that Kim's powers had still interacted with Angie, despite everything that they did and she was now going through withdrawal, which they did not know how to treat. They didn't know how to treat the rangers' withdrawal and they were not going to begin to experiment on a baby. They just had to watch her and if things began to become more severe, then they would take her to see Tanya, although Tanya could probably do nothing about it. "Can't we do anything?"

"No, I'm afraid we can't. She's too young to give the normal treatments, and those don't even help that much, but I think that she'll be fine when Kim and Tommy get back. It will probably be mostly over by then," Alpha said as Kat and Hayley glanced over at Angie who certainly did not seem to be all right, right now. She had not quit crying since her parents had left and they were only hoping that she would cry herself out soon, but they had hoped the same thing over the last two days. She was miserable, to say the least and there was nothing that they could do about it.

"Should we tell them? You know that they would want to know that this was going on," Ally said, as she walked around the command center trying to calm Angie, although it seemed that was going to be nearly impossible. She thought that Tommy and Kim should at the least know what was going on, so that they would be prepared, although others did not agree with her thinking. They had enough to worry about and bringing up that Angie was not doing well would not help them at all.

"No, they have enough to worry about without us telling them that their child is suffering from withdrawal of some sort. There is nothing that they can do and there is nothing that we can do to help besides try to comfort her," Alpha said, as he knew that telling Kim would cause her to break down and there was really no telling what Tommy would do if they told him. He was not in a very stable state right now and Alpha knew better than to push his luck at keeping it that way.

"Alright, well, we might as well contact them and tell them what we have found out," Hayley said as she headed to the screen as it sprang to life. She was sure that she must be imagining it, but it seemed that Billy, Tommy, and Kim were all crowded around the screen, trying to disperse a secret between themselves.

"Hayley, I have a question for Alpha," Billy said, as he looked at her and had to mentally slap himself for thinking the thoughts that were running through his mind. They were on a mission and his focus was supposed to be on that, but one look at her made him forget everything that he was supposed to be doing right now. Why had this had to come at such an inconvenient time?

"What's your question, Billy?" Alpha asked, as he scooted Hayley out of the way, as he picked up on the fact that Billy was barely able to stutter out the sentence at hand with her in front of the screen.

"Alpha, is there anyway that you could teleport someone out of the mission if things were to go bad for them?" Billy asked, as Kim and Tommy stood behind him, waiting to tell him the news. They had talked to him the night before about the situation that might arise between Jason and Trini and they were trying to prevent any problems.

"Yes, but it would take a great deal of power away from the rest of you for a short while. Why do you ask?" Alpha asked, as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance before allowing Billy to answer the question with the knowledge that he knew.

"No reason, I was just making sure in case someone was injured by Lord Zedd's puddy patrol," Billy said lamely, as he looked again at Hayley before saying good-bye. He knew that they would not be in contact with them again and it was not going to be very pleasant to those aboard to find that out. "I'll talk to you after we have defeated them."

"Billy…" Hayley said as the image cut out and she went to reach for the button to re-signal them, but Alpha promptly stopped her. There was a reason that he had cut out so quickly and Alpha was sure that it meant that he could no longer take the sight of Hayley, knowing that he would not see her in person for several more days.

"Hayley, don't worry about him. He has to deal with being away from you in his own way," Alpha said, as she went and sat down next to Ally, who was trying to rock Angie back to sleep, although she was struggling just to get her to quit crying.

"Billy," Kim said breathlessly as she looked over at Tommy, not knowing what they should, or even could say at the moment.

"Yes, Kim," Billy said and after a short while of no response, he continued. "I assume that you have come in here to tell me some vital news. If my assumption is incorrect, I'd like to be informed of why your presence is necessary."

"She is, Billy," Tommy said simply, as he carefully watched Kim.

He had heard the crying in the background and he was not sure that it was a good thing. He just hoped that Angie was tired and that they were trying to get her to go to sleep. If it was something worse than that, they could not handle it right now. That was why Alpha had not talked to them, he could never lie to them as well as some of the others, it was not in his programming to do such a thing.

"You're sure?" Billy asked, as he looked at the door. There was not much protection from the others hearing if they wished to find out about what was going on.

"Three tests, Billy. All positive," Kim said, as she handed the pregnancy tests over to Billy, who was able to see the blue line without a problem. They all knew what it meant, but they didn't know how they were going to address the situation.

"Damn," Billy muttered, as he watched Kim cringe from his choice of words. She knew just how bad it was because he had been forced to curse. "And we can't tell him, can we?"

"It's not our business to tell, Billy, but I'm going to talk to her. Maybe I'll be able to talk her into telling him," Kim said, although her hope was fading fast. She knew that Trini could be stubborn and she could only hope that she had not made herself determined to not tell Jason. If she had, then they were not going to be able to change her mind.

"You can try Kim, but I don't even know if you will be able to change her mind," Billy said, as he had the feeling that she had already decided what she was going to do. It was not comforting to know that, but at least they had an idea of exactly what they would be trying to cover up once they got out there. It was not going to be easy and they all did not like facing that fact right now. There was way too much at stake for important things to go unsaid.


	20. Arriving

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster. 

Now, on with the Story!

These are some definitions I think you might need to understand some areas of this chapter: Anoya-day, Mensons-years, Aliods-people, centrars-miles

_Arriving on Nonatasion_

_Jason's POV_

It seemed like it took us longer than ever before to get to this mission. I know that it has taken us days to get somewhere before, but I feel that there is much more going on around here, but I just hope I'll be able to find out what it is on the way home. We no longer have the luxury of sitting around, we have arrived at Nonatasion.

As barren as Asoriotan was when we first arrived, Nonatasion is just as plentiful with plant life. There could possibly be some animals lurking among these foreign plants, but it is really hard for us to be able to tell because of the foliage. It is the dusk of day here and it is just beginning to become cooler around this area. I have always loved this time of the day best, but it seems to be the wrong time to be embarking on a mission such as this, a mission that could very well end our lives.

I know that we were worried when we disembarked from the ship the last time, but I am much more worried this time about how we will fare. Kim is no where near the physical condition that she was in when we arrived on Asoriotan and Tommy will be much more worried about keeping her safe, which might leave me fighting more things without back up. I know I trust them to look out for me, but I don't know how long they will be able to do that if something bad happens out there. They have to look out for each other first and I think everyone understands that.

Billy, however, says that their powers will act normally, as nothing is wrong with them besides the extra fatigue that they have been under since Angie's birth. I can only hope that he is right about their powers or we will land in a bad place very quickly. If we were to meet anything while trying to get to Lord Zedd's palace and things act up, then I might be delivering the news that we have lost one of the two greatest rangers that I have ever known. I don't know what they would do without each other and I don't know how they continue to risk all of this when they have more to lose than any of the rest of us.

"You didn't happen to bring something to chop these limbs with, did you Tommy?" Kim asked, as they continued to duck under the tree limbs that blocked their path through the plentiful jungle.

Tommy had already had to hoist her over several limbs and she was now looking at another limb that she could not crawl under or climb over without great difficulty. They did not allow her to crawl under anything that they were not able to see under with the flashlights that they carried. Once it turned completely dark, they were going to morph and use the special vision that Billy had installed for them on the way to Nonatasion. They hoped it would protect them if they met anything, but they were not sure what they could possibly meet on this journey. They really had no clue as to what they might wind up going against here.

They honestly had not known what to expect when they landed there, but this was not what they had envisioned going through. They had expected an army of puddies or even some tryadrones, but they had not expected to meet a forest, just a forest, without any traps inside of it, according to Billy. That did not seem like it could be the best defense that Lord Zedd had about people invading his planet. This forest seemed to hold no real danger to them, but it was the fear of what could be behind the next tree that kept them on their toes as it slowly became darker and they were less sure of what they were seeing.

"No, I didn't expect this. I was actually expecting to have to fight something other than a tree when we first arrived on this planet," Tommy said as he tossed Kim over to Jason before easy climbing over the limb and re-grabbing her hand. They then looked out into the jungle, trying to figure out where to go next, as they had a hard time finding the path that Billy had wanted them to follow. They were always having to go around one tree or another and they were not sure if they were going to ever make it out of the woods in one piece. If they fell in some hole, then they were just out of luck, because the other rangers would never be able to find them. They would just be lost in the woods, forever.

Then, they saw it. A small shed situated in the middle of this dense forest of trees, which was odd. They had not seen any other structures and they had been walking for almost an hour, hoping that they were on the right path. It looked innocent enough, so they could only hope there was nothing inside that would harm them when they looked for some sort of ax or knife to help them make it through the woods. They would have willingly continued on without looking, but there were still a few hours before complete darkness settled in over the land. They could not help but hope that an ax would quicken their pace, as throwing Kim over branches did take a good deal of time and some precision, as Tommy wanted to keep her uninjured for as long as possible.

"Me neither, but maybe we'll find something in there that we can use," Jason said as he stepped towards the door, but they were suddenly dropped down into an unforeseen trap.

There was no way to escape it and the pitch-blackness made it nearly impossible to know if they were alone or surrounded by an army of puddies in this underground cavern. The only thing that they could hope was that there was a way out of there that would not harm them or take them a great deal of time. They could not risk either thing, no matter what anyone else thought about it. Both were far too precious to allow them to be wasted and if they could find a light, then they would begin finding their way out of there.

"Is everybody alright? It's dark down here, stay close, there has to be another way out of this place. We can morph in a few minutes if it seems like we're getting no where," Tommy said grabbing Kim's hand and she reached to grab Jason's hand as well. If they were ever going to find their way out of here, they were going to have to stick together and trust that Tommy could somehow feel his way out of this place, although he had never had the best sense of direction among the three of them, but he was the leader.

"You're cold Jason," Kim said, as she strained to see him, but Jason was looking down at Kim's hand and thinking the same thing about her hand, he just had not been brave enough to say anything to her about it. "Why didnt you say something earlier?"

When he looked at her hand, he realized it must not be Kimberly's as it didn't not fit into his hand as it had in the past. That thought, however, scared the living crap out of him right now. If he was not holding Kim's hand, then whose hand was it? And what might this thing do to them if they suddenly screamed out that it was the wrong person in between them?

"Who's Jason?" A voice asked as Tommy got a firmer grip on Kim's hand and she let out a scream, as she was horrified about what she heard. She had not expected to hear the airy voice come out into the darkness and could only hope that whatever it was, was friendly. If not they were going to have to fight the being in the darkness of this cavernous place, in which it would probably have the upper hand.

"Who's there?" Tommy asked, as he pulled Kim to where she was standing behind him and Jason jerked the being away from Tommy and Kim.

He would take his chances if this thing was hostile, he knew that Trini would understand why he would do something like this. He wanted to make sure Kim and Tommy were still able to go home to their child. Little did he know that he had his own child on the way, but that little bit of information was supposed to wait until Trini decided to tell him. Kim and Tommy both wished that she would have told him before he got off the ship, as Jason would have been more careful, but Trini decided against it.

"I'm Alabaster. I lived on the surface of this planet until Lord Zedd took over my planet sometime ago. Who are you and what are you doing here? It is no longer safe for anyone to be here," Alabaster said as Tommy released Kim from his grip and then walked forward to try to locate whatever was talking to them. He felt that Kim would be fine where she was standing and he knew Jason was in this place somewhere and would help him in any way that he could if things got out of hand.

"We're the Power Rangers. Can you help us get out of here? We're trying to find Lord Zedd and defeat him," Tommy said as Alabaster nodded his head, although none of them could see that action. It was going to be a long walk for the humans, but he had to admit that he had never heard of these beings that called themselves 'Power Rangers' and it did make him curious as to why they were on his planet. They said they were trying to find Lord Zedd, but why would anyone want to try to find him? He was not exactly a being that had many friends that would pop up and visit him.

"Yes, but what are the Power Rangers? I've never heard of those things before," Alabaster said as he lit a torch with the flick of his wrist and began leading the way through the now dimly lit caves.

He was built the same as the rangers, except for the fact that his clothing looked rather odd to them, with a long tan colored robe covering a pair of leggings. He had long, white blonde hair, which he had gathered in a low ponytail and he stood about the same height as Tommy. His skin was lacking the signs of being exposed to any form of light in the recent past, but he held a smile that allowed them to calm down about the danger that they could have been in at the moment. They were honestly just thankful that he could get them to the surface, without too many problems.

"We protect a planet called Earth. Three of our rangers were captured by Lord Zedd and Mesogogg and brought to this planet. We are trying to get them off of this planet and hopefully get rid of Mesogogg at the same time. He's been bothering us for the past few years," Tommy said as Alabaster looked at them and then saw that there were two men and a woman that had fallen into this area that he now called his home.

Two of them seemed to be very protective of each other, as she was following the taller one as he held onto her hand. The other man seemed to be a close friend, but Alabaster wished he could only get inside of their brains to fully understand what a Power Ranger was. They seemed to be skirting the full definition of their job and he disliked knowing that they did not fully trust him, as he wanted to get rid of the evil Lord Zedd as much as they did. He, however, did not have the capabilities to do that as all of his army had been taken away from him when Lord Zedd arrived.

"Earth? Why would Lord Zedd want to harm those from Earth?" Alabaster asked, as he could not understand it. There was no reason for Lord Zedd to go into uncharted waters like that, as he had plenty of beings close by that he could torture without risking vengeance from this group. There must be some history between the two of them that he had not been made knowledgeable of, to this point.

"Because we banished him from Earth and he holds it against us and he always will. How did he conquer you?" Kim asked, as Tommy looked over at her as he had seen the gleam in Alabaster's eyes.

Tommy then pulled her closer and slipped his arm around her, as wherever they were was rather damp and he did want Alabaster to get the full idea that Kim was well spoken for. The being seemed nice, but he was not taking his chances in case things turned ugly over the next few minutes. That was something that he always imagined would happen when they took help from a stranger. He still felt rather leery about the whole situation and he could not help but wonder what he might do to them. They were having to put complete trust in a stranger and he had never been comfortable doing that one thing, because some strangers would just lead them to Lord Zedd and they would want them to be destroyed.

"He arrived here one anoya and began fighting our forces, which I now understand better as he had no place he was welcome to go back to because of your banishment. He struck harder than anything I can ever remember experiencing during my time here and I can not imagine what it must have been like to fight him during a full scale attack. I was lucky. My family, however, was killed within a few anoyas and my castle was taken over by Lord Zedd and his minions. I was and am the sole, remaining prince of Anotayon. That is what this region was called before he took over. If he knew I was still alive, then he might come after me as well. I have been hiding for the past ten mensons, hoping that he would leave my planet, but he has not. He had continued to try to terrorize the aloids that are left in Anotayon, but many of them left when he came here. They made it out in time to save themselves and their families and for that, I am grateful. I do not know how many more of them I could have handled suffering that horrible death," Alabaster said with a hollow voice as they all exchanged a glance.

They had not known that Lord Zedd had taken over this planet and they knew what would happen if Alabaster showed himself while Lord Zedd was still here and in power. Lord Zedd did not want any opposition and it surprised them that he had not tried to confirm Alabaster's death after he took over. It seemed that Lord Zedd might have thought Alabaster dead, because he had hidden himself so well. He had been wise to hide himself at the time, but it must have been miserable to be hiding for this long and to not know if it was safe for him to once again return to the surface. That was where he was meant to be and the toll on him was great. It was obvious by just looking at him that that was the case.

"That's horrible," Kim said sympathetically as Alabaster gave her a smile before continuing with more details of the story.

He knew they would need to know as much as they could about the events that had been going on with Lord Zedd while they were away, but it might not help them as much as they hoped. He knew nothing of their weapons and he could only imagine what they would be capable of if they had found any of the weapons that the Anotayon's kept. He had managed to destroy many of them during his last few days of reigning over the empire and he hoped that the magical protection still held over them, as he was still alive and well. If it was not holding over the weapons, then these rangers might not be able to make it anywhere near the palace, as these weapons would detect them and kill them. He did not think it wise to tell them, as he hoped and prayed that they were still undiscovered.

"Well, there are still some regions of the planet that have not been taken over by him, from what I remember of my last few days on the surface. Other aloids, like me, live in vast underground cities, centrars away from here. I, however, could not leave this region, as many did. My home is in this place and I can not leave it, unless it is utterly destroyed and I know that it had not been, at the time. It may be now, but I trust that it is still standing, otherwise Lord Zedd might have decided to live in one of these caves, as they do provide a great deal of protection from the outside," Alabaster said as Jason suddenly saw an amephor pass by and he went into combat mode. Those things had given them hell the last time they had seen them and he did not want to have to deal with them again.

"Watch out," Jason said as Tommy and Kim went into battle mode as well, while Alabaster gently put his hands on Jason's and Tommy's shoulder to pull them back from attacking. He was not as worried about the woman flying at them unless they began attacking her first, as she seemed to have the most common sense about her at the moment. There was something about the men that made them more jumpy, although he could not figure out what it was.

"They will not attack. Those are still under my control," Alabaster said, as Kim backed off, but Tommy and Jason still seemed wary to turn their backs on the creatures. If they were to be attacked, they would never forgive Alabaster for talking them out of defending themselves against these creatures that had dealt them such a hard fight only a few years before. How could they be under his control when they had come and fought against the rangers only a few brief years before? "How did you know about them? I thought that they only existed on this planet."

"Nicarni-Aso used those against us when we were trying to defeat her," Kim said as she noticed the look on Alabaster's face change to a steely look and she was worried that she had said something to upset him, although defeating Nicarni-Aso did not seem like something that would make anyone mad. The woman had caused so much pain and it was more of a service than anything else that they could think of it being.

"Then the population must be gone except for those few you saw just then. They would rather die than obey someone who is doing the wrong thing," Alabaster said as Kim, Tommy, and Jason could not believe those words. They had been hard to defeat then, but would they have been impossible to defeat if they were truly loyal to their leader? They did not like contemplating that thought for a long time and were glad when Alabaster spoke again, this time seeming more curious about their situation before they came here. "Nicarni-Aso, you say? I thought that she was locked up by someone mensons ago. I have not heard her name, in what seems like forever. She was a horrible evil."

"Well, she was locked up, but she was able to escape her captivity several years ago and began attacking Earth again. Several of the rangers that are with us now went on that journey as well. She was difficult to defeat, but we can say that she is gone this time. We made sure of that," Jason said as Kim looked away from Tommy, who still could not understand why she had done what she had done those years ago.

"It is fitting that you defeated her, being from Earth. She once ruled over that planet with an iron clad hand and I know of many that were killed because of her cruelty. Now, enough about your past conquests, what is going on in your life on Earth? You are not as young as some would expect one to be while in this line of work," Alabaster said as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance. Should they tell him about Angie or leave that out of their life story? They already had enough drama to fill several books and being on another journey after just having a child was enough to start filling another book for the ages. It was odd how so many people would love to hear the story of the Power Rangers, if they only knew how long that story would be, it would lose a lot of interest. "Oh, a little aloid."

"Aloid?" Kim asked as Alabaster simply nodded his head and then saw that she still did not comprehend what he was talking about in the slightest bit. He had thought that she might be able to turn the word into child, but she had been unable to process it, not that he blamed her. Their languages seemed to be similar in many respects, but there were some words that remained foreign to each other and he could only hope that he knew the correct human word for aloid.

"I think, they call them children on your planet," Alabaster said, as Kim nodded her head and Tommy smiled down at her. It was odd how she could be happy to talk about Angie, after trying not to think about her for the past four days while they sat aboard the ship and had nothing but time to think about it. Now it was something to keep their minds off of what was going on around them. They needed to be able to do that, as they were going to be dealing with many hard things that were yet to be seen. "What's her name?"

"How did you know we had a girl?" Kim asked, as Tommy had still not removed his eyes from Kim and Alabaster merely nodded towards Tommy. He knew that the man must have a daughter, as he was still interested in seeing her mother talk about what she could do and what she was like. If it was a boy, he would have begun talking immediately, at least from his experiences with people.

"I just do, now what is her name?" Alabaster asked, as Tommy finally decided that it was his turn to speak up, as Kim was giving him a look that it was time for him to do such a thing. She didn't know if she could really talk about it in depth, but Tommy could and she was going to leave it to him.

"Angie," Tommy said, as Alabaster nodded his head and then stopped as he reached a section of the cave that had a small pond in it.

Alabaster had crossed it in order to get into the most secluded section of the cave, but it had been a long time since he had gone across it, as he tried to stay in the areas that were harder for Lord Zedd to reach, if he ever discovered this cave. He wanted to be able to take back over once Lord Zedd was gone, but there had been no one else that had tried to defeat him, besides these rangers. They were this planet's only chance to get back to the way that things were before they were conquered and he hoped that they could do what they had set out to do.

"Can you swim?" Alabaster asked as Kim looked down at the water. It was murky and she wondered if there was anything in there that might attack them while they swam across. As if reading her mind, he answered the unasked question without skipping a beat; this type of mind reading was starting to become a little bit scary as Kim had noticed he had bit his tongue several times. He did not want them to know of the powers he had, as it would truly make them wonder why he couldn't have handled Lord Zedd on his own. "There is nothing in the pond, you shall be able to make it across easily."

"Let's get this over with," Kim muttered, taking off her shoes and placing them in the backpack that was situated on her back. She did not need anything to weigh her down while she was swimming, as the backpack was going to be enough with the supplies that it held and she didn't really want to make Jason or Tommy double up on the gear that they were carrying. They already had a heavier load and she couldn't bear to make them take much more.

"Do you have any extra clothes?" Alabaster asked as they shook their heads no and then waded into the water behind him. He wondered if he should lead the way, not knowing how well they could swim, but he figured by their builds that they would be able to keep up well enough and he began swimming as quickly as he could. He felt that something was off in this cavern, but he could not put his finger on what it was and he knew that the lake would on be safe for a little while longer. It seemed to have not detected what it was supposed to and he couldn't help but wonder what it might be looking for.

"You okay?" Tommy asked as Kim swam next to him as they made their way across the cavern. It would have been a wonderful place to look at if they had, had the time, but this was not a pleasure trip. They had a mission to accomplish and everything else was deemed unimportant until it was done and they were on their ride back home.

"Yeah, it's just colder than I expected," Kim said, as she felt her feet hit the bottom of the pond and saw that they were still several yards away from the shore that Alabaster was already approaching, while only beginning to walk towards the shore. "Funny, it sure is shallow here."

"Hurry," Alabaster said, as he saw something move under the surface of the water and it worried him.

Lord Zedd probably knew that this cave led to a way off of this region of the planet, but he doubted he would have planted anything there, unless he had done that recently, when he knew that the rangers were coming. The rangers, however, would have had a hard time navigating the caves without a guide. It had taken him months to learn all of the intricacies and he still did not go in some parts of the cave, due to the lack of knowledge that he had about them. If he had an odd feeling, he did not enter that part of the cave, although some would think that cowardliness, but he knew better than to tempt some of the old magic in this place.

"That was cold," Kim muttered, as her baby pink tee clung to her curves and her jean shorts had water flowing down her legs as Jason and Tommy got out of the water behind her, with the water making small puddles at their feet as well. Their clothes clung to them as well, but it did not seem as if it bothered them at all to see her like that. It was not the first time and they were almost sure it would not be the last time that they had to go through water in their full clothing.

"Well, if you wish to stop and warm up, we can, but I sense that you are urgent to get to the surface and continue on your mission," Alabaster said, as Tommy nodded his head and then placed both of his arms around Kim. He was wet, but he was not as cold as she was from the short swim across the pond. He did weigh a little bit more and it still seemed that that was what kept him warmer in the water, but he knew that it might not be enough to keep her warm. She needed to be warm more than anyone else and he didn't know what he could do to help her out. "Here."

"Thanks," Kim said, as she slipped on the tan robe over her clothing and found that it was indeed a great deal warmer and even felt dry, which was odd since he had gone through the same water that they had only moments ago. There were some odd things on this planet and she would have loved to figure all of them out, but again, time was a factor that was not on their side. "What powers do you hold?"

"Powers? I have no powers that are abnormal here," Alabaster said as he again flicked his wrist to set the torch alight and they looked into a part of the cave and could see a tiny light in the distance. It was dim, but it was a ray of hope that they were getting close to the surface, although they were not sure if they were ready to go up there. They were not as prepared to face Lord Zedd here as they wished, but they would be able to take it. "Now, it should only be a few more minutes before we get there, quickly now, I do not wish that you should be detected by Lord Zedd."

"He can detect us?" Tommy asked as Kim gave Tommy an odd look. She knew that he might become agitated and they did not need to deal with this right now. They had to maintain focus, as they had known that there was a possibility that Lord Zedd could find them at any time. This was his home planet now and he did have an advantage that they did not have.

"It is possible, but I doubt it. I thought that I might want to warn you about it," Alabaster said, as Kimberly went to hand him his cloak. He was going to need it more than her and she was almost certain she would warm up very quickly. It was still fairly warm outside and she was sure her clothes would dry in a matter of minutes, plus she had Tommy and Jason with her. "My castle is in that direction. It is about a two hour walk from here, but I am sure that you will be able to cut that trip down some."

"Thank you," Kim said with a smile and then turned to follow Jason and Tommy in the direction that they had been pointed.

"Be careful, rangers," Alabaster whispered as he turned around and went back into the cave, for a few minutes. He had to figure out someway to help these people, even if it was rather odd for him to try to do that right now. He had protected his identity for so long, but he knew of a community of aloids close by and he knew he needed to go get them. They would be able to help the rangers if they were backed against the walls, which might happen to them, although it did not seem like that would be a first.

"I don't like this," Tommy muttered, as Kim grabbed his hand to let him know that she was standing at his side again. He didn't like the feeling that he was getting by just walking a few yards from the safety of the cave. It seemed as if everything was now focused on them and he was not sure how to take that type of unseen pressure.

"It's going to be fine, Tommy. You know that," Kim said with a smile as she spotted something ahead of them. They continued towards it, hoping that it was nothing that would bother them. They really did not have the time to deal with any delays, as the other rangers were suffering because of it.

"What is that?" Jason asked, as he lifted up the blanket and before they knew what was happening, Richard grabbed Kimberly and disappeared into oblivion. It had been their plan the entire time to capture her once they saw the chance and it had appeared much earlier than they had thought it would. Now, they were just going to have some fun playing with Tommy's emotions, which ran much stronger and harder than they had in the past few months. "What just happened here?"

"Damn it. Contact the others Jason. It looks like Lord Zedd wants to play dirty," Tommy said, as he started in a dead sprint towards where he hoped Alabaster's castle still stood. If they harmed so much as one hair on her head, he was going to kill them with his own hands, no matter what anyone else thought of that action.

AN: I know that this is a bit of a cliffhanger, but I hope that it will be worth it in the end.


	21. The Unexpected

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster. 

Now, on with the Story!

_Didn't Think We'd Do This, Did You?_

"Pretty pink ranger," Richard said, as he dropped her to the ground and saw the pure fear come into her eyes as she realized where she was and what that might mean for her. She reached for her morpher and attempted to morph, but it didn't work and she was scared shitless about that. She was not protected from anything that he tried to do to her if she was not morphed. Why was the thing acting up now? Why wouldn't it let her morph? It had worked so well over the past few weeks, why would it decide to do this now? "Don't worry, Zeltrax wants to have fun with you today and that little morpher will not work too well inside of these walls. We wished to have this happen, easier on us, you see to deal with an unmorphed ranger."

"What?" Kim asked, as she had been preparing herself to fight Richard and had not really listened to anything else once she heard about Zeltrax.

When she saw the cyborg step into the room, she got the distinct feeling that this was going to be one of the worst beatings she had ever received in her life and she had been dealt some bad ones in the past by Goldar and others. She probably wouldn't be able to escape and would only be left with the choice of not ticking him off too much. She just prayed that she could somehow manage to do what she had to do to survive, long enough for Jason and Tommy to show up. They could take care of the rest once they showed up.

"Funny, it seems that Tommy has taught you nothing. I thought that was the very least he would do with you," Zeltrax said, as she scrambled to the opposite end of the room and tried to figure out if there was anyway that she could scale the walls, but she couldn't, without her powers.

She was far too short to be able to vault into the rafters and run as far from here as she could away from this monster. She was just going to have to take her chances on the ground. She didn't like those chances, but she knew that her husband was on his way and with any luck he would arrive in time to help her.

"He's taught me plenty," Kim said, as she dove out of the way of his first punch and then kicked him from behind, slamming him into a metal wall in the process. She headed towards the door, but found that it was locked, which meant she was pinned, in this room, alone with a maniac. She could only pray that they got there soon and were able to find the room that she was in quickly. She could hold him off, but it would only be for a little while.

"Obviously not enough, to go against me," Zeltrax said, as he grabbed her by the neck and slung her across the room and when she rose to her feet, she was gasping for air, and listening for any sound of oncoming help.

"What was that?" Kira asked as they heard a loud, boom upstairs and then heard the scrambling of feet. They knew this time was coming, but they only hoped they would be able to find them, soon. They had overheard a plan that had Elsa and Richard coming to kill them once the rangers arrived and they did not plan to be there to see that happen.

They had come up with a plan of their own while they had been left here to ponder on their importance for the last four days. They had decided that the rangers would need them when they finally got here and had began implementing their own plan, but it couldn't be done until they were sure that the rangers were there. They were still going to need their help to get out of there.

"I don't know, but are you ready for the jail break?" Ethan asked as he pulled out some of the tools he had been collecting over the last four days.

None of Lord Zedd's help was really careful about where they placed their tools and Ethan had been able to easily highjack them and hide them in their backpacks. The backpacks that they left with them did work to their advantage, although Lord Zedd had never thought that would be the case. He actually thought that the bookbags would be a nuisance to them when the time to leave came. The rangers, however, planned to ditch them as soon as they could. They could buy new schoolbooks if they had to do so. Right now, they were concerned about being able to get out of this place alive.

"Okay, Zedd. Where is she?" Tommy said, bursting into the room and taking them by slight surprise. They had known Tommy was coming, but this was not what they expected. He seemed ready to take on whatever got in his way, even if it was a rather dumb idea and they were up for encouraging dumb ideas at the moment.

Tommy was not wasting any time bull shitting around about the situation at hand. He could not afford to waste time on the simple fighting against the goons outside, either. That was what the other rangers had been called to do right now. He had to get to her and stop them from hurting her, if it was at all possible.

He could not deal with them having his wife. He had never been able to deal with it when they took her away and it was worse now that he had the picture of their child never knowing her mother. That was more motivation than he needed to go up against any type of monster, including Lord Zedd or Mesogogg right now. They did not want to make him any madder or they would be facing his wrath in a way that only Goldar and Zeltrax had ever faced before. The two of them weren't around to say how unwise it was to make him mad, but he was sure he could get the point across to them as well.

"Have I made the white Power Ranger mad at me?" Lord Zedd asked, tantalizingly, as Tommy jumped with his hands outreached for Lord Zedd's neck and Jason managed to catch him before he began fighting like the maniac that he now was.

He had, basically, dragged Jason to the place Alabaster had pointed them towards, in an attempt to get Kim back with him sooner. Jason knew it was only a matter of time before Tommy snapped and he wanted to hold that time off for a few more minutes. Tommy was not going to do Kim any good if he was unconscious because of fighting Lord Zedd, by himself. If that did happen and something happened to Kim, Tommy would never forgive himself, so he was going to do everything within his power to make sure that they would all be fine.

"No, you have pissed me off! I skipped being mad today!" Tommy yelled, as Jason continued to hold him back as Tommy fought for him to let him go, but Jason slackened his grip as he heard a blood-curdling scream from further within the castle. This could not be good and the glance that Tommy gave him let him know he was thinking the same thing. It was either Kim or the other rangers and they both had to get to whoever it was quickly; it was obvious that they were being tortured by someone.

Tommy, instead of going after Lord Zedd, as he had planned, headed in the direction of the scream, ignoring everything that was running through his mind that he wanted to do to him right now. He knew the voice of the screamer all too well and he didn't want to see what was happening to her. His imagination was doing a good enough job filling in the blanks and he could only pray that the reality was not as bad as he envisioned it to be.

"Billy, do you have a read on us?" Jason asked into his communicator as he ran after Tommy. Lord Zedd and Mesogogg made no attempt to stop them, it seemed that they were actually happy to get their attention turned to something else. He had only hung back long enough to see if Lord Zedd and Mesogogg were going to come after them, but decided they weren't.

Now he had the job of trying to catch up with Tommy, which was not going to be an easy task. He was running on all cylinders right now and his emotions were pushing him that much more, Jason might not be able to catch up with him, but he had to keep him in sight. Tommy was going to need help when he finally reached the room that the screams were being emitted from.

"Yeah, but we can't get to you right now. We have puddies that are attacking us from every direction. Hold out as long as you can and we'll leave if we have to," Billy said as Jason sighed then sped up so that he could reach Tommy in time to warn him that they had no back up right now. He hoped that would make Tommy not do anything crazy, but he doubted it right now. Tommy seemed to be sure it was Kim and he was going to have no luck of talking him out of anything that was on his mind.

"They're busy, Tommy," Jason said as Tommy turned to look back and then sprinted forward faster than before. Jason could have promised that Tommy's eyes turned green under his helmet and he knew what Tommy was going to do. He did not like what that was, either. It was just too much of a risk for all of them, but he was almost as certain as Tommy that it was Kim being tortured and he knew what that was doing to Tommy's insides right now.

"Great. We have absolutely no back up," Tommy said as he reached the door and heard the screams begin again, only they were much louder and shriller than before.

He tried to burst through the door without using any ammunition, but it wouldn't budge, so all he did was pull out his power blaster and pray she was far away from the door. He couldn't afford to waste time on the safe way, when she was being tortured, just on the other side of the door. He was too close to just let it continue without doing anything and by the way it sounded she was close to her breaking point. He knew that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't get in there in time, that was what let him make that decision. He just hoped that it was the right one.

"Let go of me!" Kim yelled, gasping for air, as Zeltrax held her against the wall by her throat and she felt herself going close to unconsciousness, as things around her became very fuzzy, but she tried to hold on for only a few more seconds.

She knew Tommy was outside the door, she had heard him, but there was always the chance that he would not get inside in time. She had tried fighting off Zeltrax, but he was too much for her unmorphed and every time she tried to morph, she had not been able to morph, it just was not working. It made no sense why it was not working, but it wasn't and she had lost hope that it would work now. She just didn't have the energy to try again and fail. She wouldn't try again, unless Tommy or Jason told her to do so. They would be asking her to do it for her own safety and she trusted their judgement more than her own judgement in situations like this one.

"I really suggest you do that, before I make you," Tommy said with a murderous glare as he walked into the room, after blasting the door off its hinges and Zeltrax gripped Kim's throat tighter than before, trying to cut off her remaining air supply. He knew how much it would hurt Tommy to watch him murder his wife in cold blood, but Tommy had no intentions of seeing that day come. She was going to die of old age, if he had it his way and he was pretty sure that he would get his way, somehow. "On the count of three morph, Kim. One, two, three."

"Pink ranger, power up," Kim managed to mutter in between strangled breaths.

She felt something hit her, but the relief was soon evident as Tommy threw Zeltrax away from her without a thought of what he was doing to the man. Zeltrax crashed into the steel wall across the room and was then blasted by Tommy again, for good measure. He wanted to make sure that Zeltrax would not stand between him and his wife for the next few moments. He knew that these moments would be what saved her or killed her and that was something he didn't like to deal with, but he knew that there was the possibility that anything could happen.

"Look at me. Come on, Kim, look at me," Tommy commanded as he reached out to pick her up and then noticed that she seemed really out of it, although he could not see her face behind the helmet. He knew that she had nearly been choked to death, but Zeltrax was gone, from what he could tell, and he wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. He had made sure it was a fatal injury this time, no matter what anyone else thought he would do. He had given up being nice, especially after seeing what Zeltrax was attempting to do. She was the only reason that he had not taken him out before, because she still believed in giving them some sort of benefit of the doubt. He didn't agree with her anymore and he was sure that she had changed her mind. "Okay, make it hard on me, then."

"Tommy, what's going on?" Jason asked as he caught up and saw the completely demolished room. Whatever had happened, had happened quickly, but it had also left the room in ruins.

Tommy was pulling Kim's helmet off of her head and then snatched his own off, when he saw her face and knew that she was not breathing. He began giving her mouth to mouth until she breathed on her own and began coughing up blood, which was not comforting to anyone in the room. That scared him and he was not sure if he wanted her to continue this mission, he had to make sure that she got home to their baby and the way things were looking, it seemed like there was a possibility of that not happening if she kept on going. He just knew it would be very hard to convince her to let them teleport her back to the safe haven of the ship, but he was going to try to convince her nonetheless.

"Go, Tommy. I'll be fine, I promise," Kim muttered as he gave her a hard look and then looked over at Jason. Tommy did not beileve Kim at all and Jason knew that Tommy couldn't leave her like this. He was silently asking him to go find Kira, Ethan, and Trent. They needed his help right now and he needed to turn his full attention to Kim. She was still barely able to focus on him, but she knew that he was there and that did give her some comfort. Nothing would happen to her while he was in this building as well.

"I'm staying here until you get back to normal. It's too much of a risk for me to leave with Lord Zedd and Mesogogg still roaming around. When you get stable we need to teleport you back to the ship," Tommy said as Kim looked at him and then shook her head.

She had managed to stop coughing, but she still felt short of breath and very dizzy, but it was not from her powers this time. Tommy could see the bruises creeping out from under the edge of her suit and he knew that if anyone hit her there during the rest of the day, she wouldn't be able to fight them. It would hurt her too much to fight after a blow to her already injured neck. She needed to go back to the ship.

"Listen to me. I can take care of myself; maybe they are worse off than I am. Go, Tommy. I'll be fine and I'll contact Billy if I need to go back to the ship," Kim ordered as she grabbed her helmet from him and placed it back over her head. She was going to have to get Tommy moving, one way or another and she just hoped that he was not looking for a lie from her, because she was lying. She was going to be fine, but she didn't know if she trusted herself to take care of herself just yet.

"Dr. O," Trent said, screeching to a halt as he saw the white, pink, and red rangers standing in a room, with Zeltrax lying on the floor obviously destroyed.

"You're all fine?" Tommy asked as they nodded their heads. They were a little bit hungry, but that did not seem to be a condition that they should mention. They were just happy to see some familiar faces in this place. It had been far too long since they had last seen the other rangers.

"Yeah, Richard and Elsa are knocked out back there, but Lord Zedd and Mesogogg are still roaming around this place, somewhere. Unless you took care of them already," Kira said taking a hard look at the red ranger and deciding it was Jason and not Conner. She honestly wondered how he was doing right now. She hadn't had anymore dreams about him and she could only hope that meant that he was fine.

"We didn't, but what about Goldar?" Kim asked, as she felt something grab her around the stomach and pull her away from Tommy. The only thought that crossed her mind was 'not again', as she had already been held hostage once today and she really didn't want that to happen again. She didn't know if she could stand it happening again.

"Funny you should ask," Goldar said, as Tommy's eyes widened and he grabbed Saba as quickly as he could, knowing the sword was his only hope, except for the fact that they could all turn invisible. It seemed that power had stayed with Tommy when he exchanged powers and he was happy that Kim and Jason could share his powers any time they wished. It was definitely going to help them this time.

"Invisashield up," Kim said as soon as she thought of the weapon. Goldar dropped her out of pure shock and Kim grabbed Jason, who could still be plainly seen by anyone who wandered by the room. The two of them had to find Lord Zedd and Mesogogg and begin the battle with them. Tommy could take care of Goldar on his own and they got the distinct feeling that was what he wanted to do. This was going to be the last time that Goldar ever crossed their path, if he had it his way. "Go help the others!"

"Okay," Trent said, as Kim seemed to think that they knew the way out of here. He didn't have the time to argue and he knew they'd be able to get out of this place, somehow. They would just follow the noise that was emitting from outside of the castle.

"Billy!" Trini yelled, as several puddies had overpowered her and were making it hard for her to continue to fight.

She wished she would have told Jason, but what could she really do about that now? She knew she had to get out of here, if she wanted to survive and she hoped that Billy would understand that request. It would leave them one ranger down, but it would save a life and that was something that they treasured more than anything else.

"Alpha, teleport her!" Billy yelled into his communicator. She disappeared in a flash of yellow light and landed on the ship, moments later. She powered down and upon doing so fainted in a heap on the kitchen floor.

"Billy, have they gotten to them?" Conner asked as the doors burst open and the three, trapped, rangers ran out into the dim light and refreshing air.

No one noticed the extra help, although they did notice there were fewer puddies around each ranger, which was a relief to them. They had been fighting them for far longer than they had ever fought them before and it was not looking good for them, but they had to keep trying. If they gave up, then the ones left inside had no hope of surviving and they were not comfortable with that fact. They were not going to lose any rangers on this mission.

"Conner! Watch out!" Kira yelled as a puddy was heading at him from the back and he was not concentrating on it at all.

He, however, didn't hear her in time and was plowed down by the overzealous puddy. It was not the first time that it had happened to him, but he was certainly starting to get annoyed by the fact that they continued to dive on him like this, they seemed to notice that he was not fully there. Oh well, it was the truth, but he was going to do everything he could do to stay on his feet.

"Kira?" Conner asked as he looked around and knew he had thrown the puddy several feet at the sound of her voice. He couldn't be imagining hearing her and he knew that she was out there somewhere or Lord Zedd was playing with his mind again. "Kira? Am I losing my mind?"

"No, you're not. I'm here," Kira said as she pushed a puddy away from him and saw him look at her, still wondering if she was really there.

She could only imagine the torture these last few days had been for him and she knew that he now knew how Dr. O felt when Kim was taken away. It was a horrible, empty feeling and they knew that they would never dare to mention the fact that Dr. O's soft spot was Kim again. Conner had found his own soft spot and he did not dare to mention it, he knew what might happen if he did. He didn't want to ever go through this again and he was sure that he would stop it next time, if he could.

"Kira, you're alright?" Conner asked giving her a hug and noticed another group of puddies coming towards them. He did not want to break apart from her, but he got the feeling that he was going to have to very soon. He didn't want her to be harmed and that would happen if they continued to hug for such a long period of time.

"You'll have time to reunite later! Fight now!" Zack yelled over to them, knowing that they didn't have time to do anything now, except fight. He didn't want them to get hurt and them to have more to worry about. They honestly had enough going on in their lives right now.

"Ow," Ashley muttered as she was hit on the side of the head by one of the puddies feet. She and Charlie had been trying to destroy the puddies, but it was proving to be a little bit harder than they expected.

This was not the sort of thing that they practiced on a daily basis at the dojo, but they hadn't expected it to be anything like the dojo. They were right, although this was not even what their wildest dreams had made it, it was much more complex than those mere dreams.

"You alright?" Charlie asked as he had heard her utterance and was a little bit worried about her. They were not used to this type of combat and he didn't want for her to be hurt. That would probably just make his fighting that much worse.

"Fine, but something just doesn't seem right," Ashley said as she fought off a puddy and looked at the building. There just seemed to be something radiating from within and she did not like the feeling that it gave her in the pit of her stomach. Something told her that they needed to go inside, that it was not going well for some of the others. "Maybe we should be getting inside to help them."

_Goldar's Fight_

Tommy looked over at the demented, winged creature known as Goldar and began trying to figure out some sort of strategy that would help him fight the beast. Goldar had always had this knack for pushing Jason and Tommy's buttons the most, but today was going to be the last time that happened. Tommy had to make sure of it, but he was not sure how he was going to do that, without any back up here. He knew what Jason and Kim were doing and he knew he needed to get to them quickly. Kim didn't need to fight, but she was and he knew that every minute he spent here was a minute she would be fighting and possibly being injured. He had to end all of this as soon as possible.

"Well, well, well. Tommy Oliver, here again, alone with me. I wonder what he wants to do?" Goldar taunted as he swung his sword at Tommy, but was blocked by Saba and then thrown in the other direction.

"You don't want to know what I want to happen to you Goldar. It would probably make you think that you were stronger than the rest of us," Tommy said, as he had no clue where the last sentence came from, it really made no sense to him at all. But it did seem to be the correct ammunition to use on the being, for some odd reason. He hadn't been a ranger for almost a decade for nothing.

"I am stronger than you, you weak Power Ranger. I wish you would have figured that out, then you would be out of the way already," Goldar said, again trying to strike Tommy, but this time finding himself thrown into a nearby wall and felt the cold steel on his face.

This was not the same ranger that he had fought over the last few weeks and he secretly wondered if Lord Zedd had gone too far by capturing Kim. It had seemed like a good plan, but now it seemed like an utter disaster. He knew that he should have warned Lord Zedd, but it probably would have gotten him zapped, but even that was better than the death that he was now facing. Tommy did not seem to be holding back in the slightest, for once in his life.

"I wish you would figure out that we will never quit. It's something that we pride ourselves in, but only a fellow ranger really understands us, come to think of it," Tommy said, as he struck Goldar and for the first time in ranger history, Goldar bled. It was not the crimson blood of a normal being, but rather a burnt yellow color. Goldar looked down at the piercing of his armor and stood there in shock. He had been warned, long ago, that if his armor was ever pierced he would be dead within minutes. He just hoped he would be able to take the white ranger with him to his grave.

For the next five minutes, he fought like the maniac he had been in the first years of Tommy's career. Tommy had a few narrow escapes, but he managed to hold Goldar off, as the blood continued to poor out of the cut. He didn't know how long Goldar could hold up, but it would surely not be much longer, he just had to hold him off until he fell.

Goldar began seeing the room fade in and out as he fought Tommy. He had not wanted to meet his end against this ranger, but that was exactly what had happened to him. He stumbled, one last time, and then laid down on the cold floor. He had given up and as death took him, he remembered one thing he had been told by the rangers. Good always triumphs over evil. He now believed that statement, but it was too late, even for him to save himself.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and please review. If there is anything you would like to see, I will take it into serious consideration for this story or another one. Until next time, enjoy the story!


	22. Legends of Evil No More

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Billy's POV_

As we run through the darkened corridors, we can hear the stifled moans and groans of our fellow Power Rangers coming from somewhere, deeper within this once majestic castle. They are fighting Lord Zedd and Mesogogg, which is something that we did not want to leave them alone to do. They have already been through more by coming into the castle and what we are hearing does not help us any. We all knew that they would be weakened, but it seems to be much worse than we expected.

There is absolutely no telling where they could be in this place and it scares me to know that. I know that we will get there in time, we just have to, especially after coming this many years without losing anyone to either of these monsters. We can not lose someone here tonight. We promised that we would come out of here with everyone still alive and we have not broken one of those promises, yet.

"Jason, we need help. We need the others. We can't do this alone," Kim muttered, as she was slung against yet another, cold, steel wall.

She could no longer tell what direction was which and she just hoped that someone would find them soon. She had tried reaching for her communicator, but she had never had the time to contact Tommy or any of the others. They were just hitting them too hard and too often for them to be able to do much of anything, including communicating with other rangers. If someone didn't find them soon…she shuddered to think of the possibilities of what would happen to them.

"I know but what can we do until they show up?" Jason managed to say as he blocked a shot to the head from Lord Zedd and saw Kim was now in a crumpled heap on the floor, barely able to move to try to fight again. She shouldn't have come in here, but it was too late to do anything about that.

If someone did not get there soon, one of them was going to die or be close to death and he did not like facing that reality, but they had always known that it might happen to them. He just couldn't understand why it couldn't have happened earlier, before they had other responsibilities left to them back home.

"Pretty girl," Mesogogg said, as he picked the exhausted and beaten pink ranger off the floor, like she was a rag doll. Kim would have normally put up a struggle, but she could not find the strength to do that any longer. She just hoped that her doing nothing would keep Mesogogg from sending a direct blow in her direction. She was not sure she could take it. Where were the others? They had to know that they were in trouble.

"We have to be getting closer. Jason's signal is getting stronger," Billy said, although they noticed he did not mention what Kimberly's signal was doing.

This did not sound as if it was good right now and they could only hope that she as out of range, they didn't want to think of the other possibility. There was no telling what it would do to Tommy's mental well being if Kim was injured or worse when he arrived on the scene. It might allow him to destroy Mesogogg and Lord Zedd, but they did not want to lose Tommy in that process. It would be bad enough if they lost one of them during this process.

"Well then let's go faster. We need to get there, it's not going well. We can hear that much, Billy. Has Tommy been able to find them yet?" Aisha asked, as fear was rising in her chest.

They had only caught a few glances of Tommy on the screen, but he seemed to be fine. She just hoped that he was looking for them as well, although he did not have any technology with him. He just had the will to find them, even if it took him all night to do so. He had a better idea of what he would be walking into, they had absolutely no idea but their imaginations were working over time. Each possibility seemed to be more unbelievable, but they had learned to believe in those things that no one thought was possible. They had seen weird things come true in the past and they were sure that they could see something odd when they ran in as well.

"No, but he's closer than we are to them. I just hope he gets there soon. I don't know how much longer they can take it," Billy said, as they quickened their pace. They had left Ashley, Charlie, and Trent to deal with the puddies and keep them from coming inside and distracting them from their goal. Conner had bluntly refused to leave Kira's side and they needed the extra help to try to defeat Lord Zedd and Mesogogg anyway.

"Which one is it?" Tommy asked himself as he looked at each door, while sprinting down the corridor. The noise was getting steadily louder, but he hoped he would reach it soon. He was scared of what might happen if he didn't.

Kim's screams were falling off and he knew it must be because she was close to fainting or worse. She had not been in any condition to fight a battle like the one she was in now, but he knew that she was going to stubbornly try to fight and didn't even try to talk her out of it, although he wished he would have now. He would at least know then that she had gone on her own will, but right now he was feeling as if she might have thought that he would force her to fight. He would not have done that seeing her in the condition she was in, but she always thought that she would let him down by not fighting. He just hoped that he would make it. Zeltrax had worried him this afternoon, but Mesogogg and Lord Zedd caused him more panic and the thought gave him the extra energy to keep going. They had every weapon at their disposal, Zeltrax had not and look at what he had done.

"You never learned, did you?" Lord Zedd asked, as Jason was now on his knees, barely able to hold himself up, but was still valiantly trying to fight. Kim was lying unconscious, on the floor a few feet away, but he knew she was not dead. She was still breathing, although he could barely see her chest moving anymore, although that could be caused from his own barely conscious state.

They had to get to them soon or they might not survive this. He knew that the only reason Mesogogg had not killed Kim yet was because of the fact that he was in the room, still conscious. He knew he just had to hang on a little bit longer. That was all the time the rangers would need to find them, he hoped.

"Learned what?" Jason asked as he looked at the door, pleading that it would be slung open by one of the rangers, any of the rangers right now. That was the only thing that would save the two of them.

"That we always win," Lord Zedd, before he zapped Jason and watched him fall to the ground, on top of Kim, without a response. Now that they had taken care of two of the rangers, they only had to go after four more and then they would go conquer Earth, without anyone trying to stop them.

"Come, we better find another room. The rangers will arrive soon. We do not want them to catch us in the act," Mesogogg said, as Tommy slung open the steel door and looked down at the floor. The pink and red rangers were lying there, looking to be alive, but barely clinging to that state right now.

Mesogogg and Lord Zedd were going to have to kill him in order to get out of this room with their own lives still intact. He knew that other rangers were coming, but it might just take them a little while to get there. He just had to hold them off until the back up came in. If he could do that, then they would have a decent chance at saving Kim and Jason.

"Too late," Tommy said, as the two of them exchanged a glance. This was the one ranger that they had not wanted to see walk in while they were still in the room with Kim and Jason. Those were the two rangers that he cared about the most and would fight for the hardest in a situation like the one that they were presenting to him. Why couldn't it have been someone else? Like Goldar or Zeltrax to burst into the room with good news for them. "I've already found you."

"Thomas Oliver, we meet again. Did you have a good time finding your wife?" Lord Zedd asked, as Tommy reached behind him for Saba. Lord Zedd might have zapped Kim and Jason, but he was going to have a harder time doing that to him. He now had their full arsenal of weapons to choose from and he was willing to use any of them to defeat the two beings standing in front of him. They had almost killed the two of them, he was going to return the favor.

"Yes, but didn't you know that this day was coming? You knew that I was still a ranger and why wouldn't I still have many rangers at my disposal?" Tommy asked as Mesogogg tried to sneak up on Tommy from behind and was quickly thrown into the steel wall behind them.

Tommy had been honest when he had asked them where she was and because they didn't help, they were going to pay worse than what he had intended for them. He had just wanted to lock them up in a box and throw away the key, but now he felt that death was much more appropriate for Lord Zedd and Mesogogg. They did not deserve the chance to escape, ever again. If they were to escape, there might not be anyone that could protect the Earth from their wrath.

"Of course I did, but you are only one ranger. What will you do against the two of us? Where are your vast reserves now Dr. Oliver?" Lord Zedd chuckled, as he knew Tommy must be lying. He only had four other rangers to help him. Mesogogg stood up, but kept his distance from Tommy, knowing that he needed to do that for his own safety. He had thought he would be able to deal with the white ranger, he was wrong in that assumption.

"I'm not sure, but I know that you will regret ever bringing us here. You should have left us alone. We would have returned the favor and forgotten who you were," Tommy said, as he began to fight against the two of them, somehow finding the extra strength he needed to be able to do that. He had thought all of his energy had been drained by Goldar, but the two bodies on the floor gave him more energy than he needed to do the job.

"Billy, up ahead!" Rocky yelled as he saw light streaming into the darkened corridor and heard the screams coming from within the room. They had been jogging, but they somehow found the strength to run faster and they were not greeted with a pleasant scene when they got to the door.

The red and pink rangers were lying on the floor, unconscious and barely breathing at this point. Tommy was fighting both Mesogogg and Lord Zedd, although it seemed that they had taken some time in between fighting him to insure that Jason and Kim would not wake up any time soon. Billy, upon seeing them, contacted Alpha and had them teleported back to the ship, so that they would be safe from any further harm. He knew Trini would take care of them when they arrived and that was what made it all, all right to him.

"It's good to see you," Tommy said as Mesogogg hit him on the side of the head, but was then thrown by Tommy again. He hadn't been joking when he walked in this room and now Mesogogg knew that. "Will someone please take him?"

"Let's just do our job and get out of here," Aisha muttered, as she knew that they needed to attend to two rangers on the ship right now. She did not want any more people to be added to that list, namely Tommy, who would be worried out of his mind, once the battle settled down.

"Sounds good to me," Zack said as he launched himself at Mesogogg, who was trying to fire upon the rangers with a weapon that he had found stashed in the room. Rocky, however, quickly kicked the weapon out of his hands and caught it in his own and blasted away. Mesogogg emerged from the smoke, a little bit burnt and definitely more battered than before. This was not four rangers and he didn't like thinking about what they might do to them.

_Outside_

"Where do these things keep on coming from?" Ashley asked, as it seemed that every time they defeated a puddy another one showed up in its place. They just could not catch a break today, no matter what they had done; the puddies kept on coming, as if they were being manufactured in the castle.

"Don't know, don't care," Trent said as he launched another one away from the entrance. They had heard nothing from the rangers since they had gone inside and they prayed that this was a good sign and not a bad one. Trent had learned that silence, generally, meant things were going well, but there was the possibility that things were so bad that they could not find a chance to contact them. He tried to not concentrate on that possibility and just fight the puddies. That was what they had asked him to do. "We have to keep fighting. That's all we can do."

"I wouldn't worry about that one. That is the only choice we have. Otherwise we die," Charlie said, as he slammed a puddy into the wall of the building and then looked out to see what looked like a small army on the horizon. The last thing that they needed was another damn thing to fight, but they were not letting them inside, no matter what harm it might cause them.

"Do you see that?" Ashley asked, as they noticed the army marching towards the battlefield that they had created over the last few hours. She was honestly starting to get scared that these were something else that they would have to fight and there was no way that she could deal with it. She was feeling far too weak to deal with it, even with all of the hours she had put in at the dojo, she had never trained for something this intense.

"Yeah, but we won't worry about them until they get to us. We still have a little bit of time before that happens," Trent said, although he was tempted to reach for his communicator and tell the other rangers, but what could they do? They were inside trying to defeat Mesogogg and Lord Zedd. He could not distract them from that mission, even if it did mean that he was about to lose his father. He understood why all of it was happening.

"Listen well to me, those beings in the bright suits are the Power Rangers. They have come here to defeat Lord Zedd and we are now going to help them achieve that goal," Alabaster said, as he had gathered up as many Aloids as he could after Kim, Jason, and Tommy had left his cave. He knew that they were going to need some help and he thought that the least they could do was help try to get their home back. They had nothing more to lose if Lord Zedd found out about them being alive. "Do not attack them. Let's go."

Alabaster's forces then made their way towards the puddies that were fighting the rangers. For the first few moments, the rangers were not sure if they were helping them or hurting them, that was until the puddies began to fall. The source that had been producing the extra puddies suddenly seemed to stop and they were now able to focus on defeating what was left in front of them. If they could do that, then they might be able to go help the rangers once it was completely clear outside.

_Inside_

"You did what?" Tommy roared as Lord Zedd had mentioned that he had been the one to cause Kimberly to faint. That had not been a smart admission and none of them were surprised when Tommy dove at Lord Zedd, as a lead tackler might at a wide receiver with the ball.

Many of them had not seen him fight with such vigor since he had been evil, but they could tell Tommy was flirting with that side of himself today and they were not going to stop him. If they did, then they might find themselves being tackled by him. They didn't want to risk their own harm, as he seemed to be the only one making any real progress.

"Listen, we have to hurry and get rid of them. Tommy's not going to hold out much longer at the rate he's going," Billy said, as he pulled Rocky and Zack even with him. He had made some sort of odd plan and he needed their help to implement it. "Kim, Jason, and Trini are probably not holding up very well on the ship and I'm worried about the rangers outside."

"Okay," Rocky and Zack said, as they noticed a particularly powerful laser beam that had been left out, but they had to get a clear angle on both of the demons in order for it to be affective.

"Come on, you want some more?" Tommy asked, as Lord Zedd bent his head and swung, once again at the pissed off white ranger.

He could not back down from the challenge, but he was not certain he even wanted to take it anymore. Tommy seemed posed to kill and he had seen that look in his eyes a few times before and knew to be wary of it. He had had that look in his eyes while he was evil and he knew of the damage that Tommy did then, now he was about to be on the receiving end of the deal.

"Tommy! Move!" Billy yelled, as Tommy turned to see what he was talking about, but then quickly jumped out of the way, when he saw what he was holding. Billy had the set the laser on Mesogogg already and had managed to slow him down enough that they would be able to defeat Lord Zedd and then move back to him. The laser jumped to life and Lord Zedd was stunned into stillness. He couldn't move or attempt to do anything and felt the life being zapped out of him. He was gone in a matter of seconds and the rangers were now able to place the ray on Mesogogg, who soon followed in Lord Zedd's footsteps.

"Where are Kim and Jason?" Tommy asked, as he could honestly say he had not seen them be teleported out of the room earlier, which was to be expected. He had been so intent on making Lord Zedd and Mesogogg pay that he didn't even know what they had done.

"On the ship with Trini. They're safe there," Billy stated as Tommy gave him an odd look. He didn't know if he wanted them to teleport him back now, or if he wanted to wait until they got everyone else.

"We better go find Ashley, Charlie, and Trent," Tommy said, as they looked at him and could not believe that he was not asking them to teleport him back to the ship. They had actually expected him to demand it out of them, as soon as he figured out that they were gone.

"Tommy, you may really want to go on back. It won't take us that long to find the others and someone needs to check up on them," Aisha said, as she had to admit that she was really worried about Jason and Kim. She was not so worried about Trini, but there were thoughts fluttering around in the back of her mind that made her uncomfortable about her as well. They all knew, except Jason, that Trini should not have fought today. That was enough to make her nervous.

"Alright," Tommy said, as he looked at Billy, who willing contacted Alpha, who then teleported, him onto the waiting ship.

"Ashley, are you alright?" Charlie asked, as she hit the ground and he then looked up to see that all of the puddies were gone, completely gone. The silence that was now in the air was almost deafening and it seemed extremely peaceful, despite the puddies that were lying around. "Ashley?"

"I'm fine, just a little bit out of it," Ashley said as Charlie walked over and helped her stand up. He quickly placed an arm around her and held her tight to his side. He didn't like this at all, but it seemed everything had calmed down. The other rangers then walked out of the castle, looking battered, but pleased with themselves.

"Where's Tommy, Kim, and Jason?" Charlie asked, as he noticed that they were gone and that was not comforting to know.

"On the ship," Billy said, as Alabaster made his way towards him. He did not recognize any of the remaining humans, but he was sure that he owed him his thanks.

"Rangers," Alabaster said, as they spun around to see the man in long tan robes, walking towards them, with a smile on his face. They did not have any idea how grateful he was, but he was sure that the three rangers he had met would tell them the truth whenever they saw them. "I owe you more thanks than you can imagine. My aloids are now able to come out of hiding and live a regular life again. I do not know what I can do to repay you."

"Well, there is one thing," Billy said, as he did not want to waste any more teleportation powers on them right now. If things were not good on the ship, then Alpha might have to teleport some of them back to Earth. "Can you help us get back to our ship quickly? Some of our rangers are hurt."

"Sure, I can get you there, but it is going to feel odd," Alabaster said and within seconds they were standing in front of their ship, rather breathless and completely unsure of their ability to stand. They did not know who the strange creature was, but they were more than thankful that he had come and helped them out of the sticky situation that they were in.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I will post a new chapter as soon as possible. Thanks so much for your support of this story!


	23. Injured

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

As soon as Tommy landed on the ship, a feeling of dread overtook him. He didn't really know why he felt like this, but he had learned to trust his gut instinct about how bad things were, even if nothing else told him otherwise. He just knew that things were worse than any of them had thought it would be.

It was far too quiet on that ship and it worried him. He had thought he would hear Trini crying or muttering to herself, but that wasn't occurring, it was completely silent. He had also assumed that Trini would be taking care of Jason and Kim, but he heard nothing, not one sound from below the deck. Was she hurt as well?

He hopped down the stairs three at a time to see that Kim and Jason were lying on the floor, in the same jumbled pile they had been in before they were teleported away. He wanted to check on them immediately, but he saw something that startled him far more only a few feet away from them. Trini was lying on the floor, unconscious and he was worried about her more because of the condition that he knew she was in. This really did not look good to him and he was going to have to pray that she was alright. He had no clue when anyone else would get there and that worried him. Billy was really the expert in this area, not him.

"Trini. Trini, honey, come on. I need you to look at me. Damn it, Trini look at me. You have to be all right," Tommy said, as he gently shook her shoulder and slapped her face a few times, but to no avail.

He quickly picked her up and was glad that he noticed that she was not bleeding, but he was still worried about her. Trini had been fine when she left the battle, so why was she passed out when he walked in? There was obviously something going on that they didn't know about, but he could only pray that it was not life threatening.

He returned to the kitchen where Kim and Jason still lay, as motionless as they were a few moments before. He removed both of their helmets and made sure that they were breathing on their own. That was something he had definitely been worried about.

Jason seemed to be doing better and was taking full breaths that was at least something that he wouldn't have to worry about with him. Kim was breathing shallowly, but she was breathing and that did comfort him, some. Tommy managed to move Jason on to a bed and he began to stir from his unconscious state.

Kim was a little bit rougher on him, as he could tell that she seemed to be going from bad to worse and he was not sure if he should move her at all. If there were other injuries present, he did not want to aggravate them anymore than they already were, but he wanted her to be comfortable and that floor was not comfortable. He knew because he had been forced to sleep on it for a couple of nights.

"Kim," Tommy whispered, as he pulled down the edge of her uniform and noticed that the bruises were becoming worse around her neck, as the minutes passed by. He didn't want to see this, he didn't want to deal with this right now, but he had to. He felt tears forming in his eyes to see her hurt like this, but he knew that she was going to survive this. She just had to survive this; he couldn't take it if she didn't make it through this mission. "Come on baby. Wake up Beautiful, I know you'll wake up."

"Tommy," Billy said, as they walked downstairs and saw him hunched over Kim's seemingly lifeless form. This was not what he had wanted to see when he first rounded the corner into the downstairs compartment and he knew that his work was cut out for him. They all looked horrible and he knew Tommy needed to be able to clear his mind, but that wouldn't happen until Kim was all right. He really didn't need for their leader to not even be able to pay attention to them because of what else was going on. However, he understood that Kim was all that was gong on in his mind. "Are they alright?"

"They're still breathing, but I'm worried. Kim was nearly strangled to death by Zeltrax and she probably took some hard hits before I got there and found both of them passed out. Jason seems fine, he's breathing easily, but he's not awake. Trini doesn't look good at all. I don't know what's wrong with her. She was passed out when I got here. There was nothing that I could do for her," Tommy said, as they all looked at him.

They all knew about Trini being pregnant and Billy was sure that he did not like what he was hearing from Tommy. Her being unconscious worried him more than Kim and Jason did at the moment. They had a reason to be knocked out, but Trini did not and Billy was not sure how he needed to treat this situation. He would love to send her to a doctor, but doing that would mean an almost certain death wish with Jason. He was going to leave that decision up to him, if Jason woke up soon.

"Bring Kim in here with them and we'll start treating the three of them," Billy said as Tommy gingerly picked Kim up off the floor and then placed her on a bed that was placed next to Jason.

Billy's first assessment of them did not give them much promise for any progress during the night. Jason seemed to be suffering from a slight concussion and although most doctors suggest that you keep the person awake, he did not want to risk being knocked out by Jason. Jason did not know what was going on with Trini and they were not sure how they were going to explain it, but they had to tell him the truth about Trini if he asked.

Kim was still struggling to breathe and he had put an oxygen mask on her, which had seemed to help her some, but not enough to make him or anyone comfortable about the situation. He could not figure out what was making her stay unconscious, but he was sure she would eventually wake up. Kim always seemed to be able to do that when no one else expected it to be done.

Trini was a completely different story though. She seemed to be fine, but what seemed to have made her faint was the sudden loss of the powers coursing through her veins when she de-morphed. They did not know what would make her wake up or when she would, but they knew that things were going to be rough over the next few hours, if she did not wake up. They were watching to make sure that she showed no signs of a miscarriage and that was what worried them the most. If she showed any signs, they were going to have to send her back to Earth, but they prayed that didn't happen or they really would catch an earful from Jason.

"Conner, you alright?" Kira asked, as he looked at the three rangers on the beds. He hadn't said anything since they had gotten back aboard the ship and she didn't know how to take that type of reaction from him. He was always talking about something and this silence was honestly scaring her. It hit home to all of them that it could have been any of them in those beds and they didn't like that reality too well.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Conner said, as he put both of his arms around her and gave her a long squeeze. He didn't want to start talking about all of the bad things that could have happened to her, but he knew that the time would eventually come when that was all that he could talk about and he just wanted to hold it off a little bit longer.

"Oh, where am I?" Jason asked, as he shook his head in agony, while the pain crept into his body, nothing would come into focus and he didn't really know what that meant for him. If he was dead, then this was not as peaceful as he thought it would be.

"Heading back home. You took it pretty rough today," Tommy said, as he looked up from Kimberly's bed and over at Jason. He could tell that Jason had not looked around the room and when he did, he was going to have a definite mood change.

Tommy could only pray that the other rangers were prepared to restrain him, if necessary. He didn't have the energy to do that right now, although he might be the only one that could help control Jason. There was no way that they would be able to completely control him when he figured it all out.

"Where's Trini?" Jason asked, as he looked around at the expectant faces and noticed that she was missing from them. They had been waiting for him to ask that question and they were not sure how they were going to answer the rest of his questions, as they knew that they were coming.

"Right there," Billy said, as he pointed to the left of Jason. Jason thought that she was just sitting down in a chair, but when he looked over, he saw that she was lying in a bed as well and it made no sense to him why she was like that.

She couldn't have been hurt during the battle. They would have contacted him if something had happened to her. They had promised him that they would do that much for him.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked as he sat up and felt as if the room was spinning around him, but he somehow was able to hold himself upright. He then focused his eyes on Billy and then looked at Tommy, who was refusing to look at him. He knew something was up if Tommy would not even look him in the eyes and he wondered what secret they were holding back from him. "What is going on here? Why is she on that bed? What happened to her? I thought that she was fine."

"Uh, we can't really say," Billy said, as he looked over at Trini and she was still out cold. He was not the one that needed to tell him what was going on, but he got the feeling that Jason was going to push until he said something.

"Billy, she's my wife," Jason said, as his voice rose to a near yell and he saw Billy diverting his eyes towards Trini, as if trying to get him to calm down. When Jason looked over, he saw that she was lying in what looked to be a rather peaceful sleep, but he wanted to know what caused her to faint. It was obvious that she was not just sleeping.

"I know, Jason, but it is her choice that we not tell you, not mine. She does not want one of us to tell you about it," Billy said, as Jason slid off the bed and walked unsteadily over to Billy.

"Why do you know instead of me then? Is it really that important that I am completely left out of the loop?" Jason asked, as Tommy looked up from Kim. The last thing they needed was for Jason to knock Billy out because he wouldn't tell him something. They had all known that this might happen to Trini and it was not selfish for them to wish Jason wouldn't do anything, Billy had to be able to take care of the two of them if they stood any chance at waking up.

"He was the middle man Jason. He wasn't supposed to know. Only Kim was supposed to know about it and it kinda spread from there," Tommy said, as Jason looked over at his best friend. He could not understand why that statement made him feel worse, but it did.

"You know, too?" Jason asked, looking enraged, but Tommy merely nodded his head yes. There was not much more left to be said. He didn't have any way to defend himself and he was sure Jason was not going to go after Kim right now. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's her business to tell, but if you keep acting like this, you're going to find out in a way that you don't like. You'll regret it later if you don't let her tell you," Tommy said, as Jason glared over at him. He didn't care who told him, he just wanted to know what the hell was going on. "Fine, you want me to tell you?"

"It would be nice if I was included in this little secret. She is my wife," Jason said, as many of the others shook their heads no. They did not think it wise for Tommy to say anything, but it seemed that they had no choice in the matter. Jason wanted to know what was going on and Tommy was going to tell him and then allow him to feel like a jackass.

"You have to promise me one thing, Jason, before I'll tell you this," Tommy said, trying to buy a little more time, but knowing that it was really useless. Trini did not look like she was going to wake up in the next few seconds and stop him, but he could always hope. Hope was what got him through a lot of things nowadays.

"What's that?" Jason asked, as his anger was starting to become more controlled, but he still needed to know. She was his wife. He deserved to know something of this magnitude.

"You won't be mad with her. If anything, be mad with me, be mad with Kim, but don't be mad at her, Jason. She didn't want to worry you," Tommy said as Jason stared at him. Why was Tommy setting him up like this? The news couldn't be that life altering, or could it be?

"I promise," Jason said, as Aisha left the room and several of the others stared at Tommy. He had just taken his life in his own hands and they didn't know if Tommy knew what he was doing, but he honestly had no choice. He would be more at risk if he didn't say anything.

"There's no easy way to say this and I'm not the best person for you to hear it from, but you insist that you know. You really sure about this?" Tommy asked, as Jason nodded his head yes. They all could see the stalling tactic in action, but they knew it was not going to work.

"Tommy, call us if Kim gets any worse," Zack said, as he and Billy ushered the rangers out of the room, which suddenly seemed too crowded. They thought it would be better if Jason only had a few people to lash out at and Tommy would probably be able to calm him down, in some way, but he didn't know how that would happen.

"You're going to be a father," Tommy said, looking Jason in the eyes and seeing the realization dawning in his eyes. He could see some anger, some frustration, and other emotions, but he saw that Jason would keep his promise and not be mad at her.

Jason was floored by hearing that. They hadn't even been trying and now she was pregnant. He was definitely going to have to talk with Tommy about some parenting tips, as he was sure he was not ready for this responsibility, but it was sitting there in front of him and he was not going to ask Trini to do something crazy.

"She's pregnant? As in going to have a baby?" Jason asked, as Tommy shook his head yes and he began shaking his head. "We weren't even trying."

"I figured that much out on my own, all of us could tell that," Tommy said, with a smile as he watched Jason. He was taking the news much better than he had expected and he was so glad that he did not have to wrestle him into being quiet about everything that was happening.

"Why didn't she tell me that she was pregnant?" Jason asked, as he sat down next to her bed and Tommy looked over at him. He didn't know the answer to that question, but he could throw out some options that might make him feel better.

"That's the million dollar question, Jason. We encouraged her to tell you, but she was so insistent that it was best this way. We tried to keep her as safe as we could, but we couldn't do anything to stop her from going out there," Tommy said, as he knew that Jason might jump him for accusing Trini of being reckless, but it seemed he was too shocked to really have anything like that enter his mind.

"What happened?" Trini asked, as she stirred for the first time and Jason looked down at her, with a sense of relief washing over him. He knew what it was like to be relieved when she woke up, but it had never been like this. He had never had this much to lose before now.

"You fainted," Jason said, calmly, as she looked over at him and saw that he looked worried about her, but she had expected that. He just didn't know everything and she was not sure that now was the best time to tell him, considering what he had probably just been through.

"You okay?" Trini asked, as he nodded his head and cocked his head to get a better view of her face. Why didn't she just tell him right now? He could tell she was worried about something and he wanted to make it better, but he had to make sure they were on the same page.

"I just got a little beat up," Jason said, with a grin, as he knew that he would tell her about the fight later. She didn't really need to here about it right now. It would worry her to pieces to know that he had fought against Mesogogg and Lord Zedd. She hadn't wanted him to do something like that unless it was a last resort and it had been. "But it's nothing too bad. Anything on your mind?"

"Actually, there is," Trini said, as he nodded his head that she could go ahead, but she felt that she couldn't. She couldn't take him yelling at her for being so irresponsible. She was better off just waiting a few more days and suffering the quietness she had placed on herself. "I…I don't know…I can't."

"It's alright," Jason said, as he gave her a hug and then lifted her out of the bed and placed her in his lap. He didn't know if he could put her through the emotional turmoil that was going on inside her head for much longer. He loved her and he couldn't hurt her. He just hoped that she would trust that he wouldn't be mad, because he knew that he was lucky that things were not much worse for him than they were right now. "Whatever you have to tell me, I promise that I won't do anything to you."

"Jason, I'm…" Trini said, cutting herself off and looking into his eyes. She couldn't do it, she just couldn't do it right now, and it was going to kill him to find out. She had always been the responsible one, now she had decided she would rather risk getting herself and their baby killed. He was going to go absolutely crazy. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Jason said, as she looked up at him. Why was he deciding to act like that right now? She really didn't need for him to act like a jackass and the look she gave him told him that. "Trini, I don't mean in that way. I know about the baby. Before you ask, I made Tommy tell me and I'm not mad at you."

"You really mean that?" Trini asked, as she had some tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. She had been so worried about how he would react when he found out, that all she felt was relief that he was not yelling or screaming.

"Of course I do," Jason said, as he reached up and gently wiped the tears away. "You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. How's everyone else?" Trini asked as Jason shook his head that she did not really want to know the answer to that question. Sure, most of the rangers were fine, but Kim was not and Trini was in no condition to hear that type of news. She had taken it hard the last time Kim was hurt and she was probably going to take it worse this time. Tommy and Kim had more to lose than most of them did if something happened and Trini would surely let that be known to all of them if they tried to act uncaring. "That bad?"

"Yeah, that bad," Jason muttered as Tommy looked up from his post and then turned to the two of them. He looked to be on the verge of crying, but was holding himself together, for some reason.

"Tommy, are you alright?" Trini asked, as he nodded his head and then she smiled at him. He was always trying to be good for everyone else, but he needed to do something for himself this time. He couldn't just keep holding all of his feelings inside, it was not healthy for him to do that and be in an enclosed space. It usually caused damage to the space, but they were willing to let almost anything happen today, so he would feel better. "It's okay to cry, Tommy."

"I don't have any tears left in me, Trini. I've cried too much lately," Tommy said as he looked at Kim and then gently traced the bruises with his fingers.

He knew that she was still in pain, but he hoped she would wake up soon. He just needed to know that she was going to be fine and seeing her eyes open, always made him feel that she would be all right.

"What happened?" Trini asked out of curiosity as she saw the bruises and wondered what had went wrong out there today. Kim didn't usually get hurt like that on a mission and she knew that things must have gone awry for Tommy to have no choice but to let that happen.

"Zeltrax, he tried to kill her, but we got there in time. I should have never let her keep fighting after that happened. I'm so damn stupid," Tommy muttered, as they heard the machine begin to beep at a faster pace and then looked back down at Kim. "Jason, go get Billy."

"Alright," Jason said as he picked Trini up and then placed her back on the bed. He was worried about Kim, but he was sure that Tommy was just overreacting to the situation at hand. He had the tendency to do that when Kim was hurt, no matter how bad it was.

"Tommy, what's wrong?" Trini asked as she saw Kim twitch, but noticed Tommy was placing a hand on her shoulder and seemed to be holding her still.

"She's shaking," Tommy said, as Billy walked in and quickly shoed Tommy out of the room, slamming the door in his face. He was absolutely no help right now and he did not need to be in there with the way things might turn out. "Billy… she's my wife!"

"She'll be fine, Tommy," Jason said, reassuringly, as he heard Trini squeal, which was not something that he really wanted to hear.

Meanwhile, Billy was battling to try to subdue the seizure that had taken hold of Kim's body. He had been worried about Kim, but it seemed to him that she was having a delayed reaction to her powers being changed or something even worse that they couldn't understand. It seemed that the injuries had caused it to finally overwhelm her body and he was going to have to fight to gain control back from the powers, but it might be a losing battle, unless someone was able to help him.

"Tommy," Billy said, as he came to the door and saw that Kim was seizing and he felt his own knees go weak and he grabbed hold of the door frame to steady himself. "I need you to take her powers away."

"What?" Tommy asked, completely stunned that Billy would even ask him to do such a thing. That certainly did not seem like it was going to help her get better. It actually made it seem to him as if things were going to get worse with the powers being gone. "Billy, she's already weak enough."

"Just do it. Her oxygen supply has been cut off long enough, Tommy. This is the only way to stop the seizure," Billy stated, as he watched Tommy morph. He then began calling on her weapons and after another two minutes, the seizure stopped and she lay still again.

"Will she be alright?" Tommy asked, quietly as he felt his own power level had risen in the last few minutes. He then walked over to be closer to her, knowing that he would not leave her side, until she woke up. Billy would not be able to figure out a way to move him if anything else happened.

"I don't know, Tommy. I want to move her to the communication room, that way we can teleport her if anything else happens to her," Billy said as Tommy looked at Billy with a weary expression.

He didn't want to think of this happening again to her and Billy knew that, but he had to be the realistic one. No one else seemed willing to take that role right now, as Tommy and Jason had things that concerned them much more.

"Billy, should we go ahead and teleport her?" Tommy asked, as he did not want to deal with another seizure. Not unless there was a full staff of doctors around to treat her, as he was starting to consider asking them to teleport Tanya to where they were, which was something that he was sure Alpha wouldn't agree with.

"I don't think so Tommy. She'll be fine or she should be fine," Billy said as Tommy reached to pick Kim up off the bed. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Tommy was carrying her and had a large bruise on the side of his face, which probably came from Goldar, as she could remember Tommy fighting Goldar, but not much more than that.

"Tommy," Kim whispered, hoping to catch his attention, with as little physical effort as possible, but she felt her throat burn as she spoke. She then resorted to poking him in the stomach with her index finger, which seemed to not hurt nearly as bad as speaking did.

"That's cruel," Tommy said, looking down at her, thinking her elbow might accidentally be bumping into his stomach, but discovered she was intently staring up at him and poking him, trying to get him to look down at her. Why did it always seem that she woke up while he was carrying her? "Shit, Kim."

"Ow," Kim muttered as he laid her down on the counter, rather roughly. He had to recompose himself, quickly. He would have dropped her if the counter had not been so close by and he knew that he had surprised her by his roughness. He had just seemed to lose the ability to be able to hold anything up after she woke up like that.

"Tommy, you alright?" Billy asked, as he saw him holding himself up against the counter, clearly trying to regain his composure. If Tommy was to go out too, he honestly did not know what he would do. He was not prepared to take care of Kim, in the condition that she was in, let alone Tommy as well.

"I'll be fine," Tommy somehow managed to mutter; as he looked up and then released a long breath that he had not realized he was holding. He then quickly wiped his eyes and gave Kim a gentle hug. He didn't want to hurt her anymore, but he knew she was not out of the woods yet. She still had to get back to breathing normally and that could take quite awhile, considering the unknown damage that might have been done to her neck by Zeltrax's steely grip. "You need anything?"

"Water," Kim mumbled as Billy's eyes widened.

He had not realized she was awake and now that she was, he hoped to figure out if there were any further problems that would need investigating. He imagined any doctor would want to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days and he hoped they could recuperate her while they traveled home, even without most normal hospital equipment. He could just imagine taking her to the hospital and a doctor asking how she survived the injury that would sure be a story that he would love to see Tommy make up.

"I'll get it," Billy said as he reached into the cabinets and pulled out a glass. He then filled it with water and passed it to Tommy, who had seemed to regain some of his composure.

"Can you sit up?" Tommy asked, as Kim looked at him and then shook her head no and winced when she realized that she couldn't move her head without the whole room spinning.

She felt extremely weak, even lying down, and knew she would not be able to hold herself up. He then pushed her up and held her in a seated position, as she took a swallow of water, which stopped some of the burning in her throat, but it did not completely relieve it. She wondered what had happened to her to make it all this bad.

"Do you remember anything?" Billy asked, as Tommy gave him a sharp look. He did not think that they needed to dig just yet. She was barely able to sit up with his support, much less speak in full, coherent, sentences right now.

"Billy, wait. We can ask questions later," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him. She did not understand what she might know. She knew she had not done anything that even bordered on miraculous this time. She didn't even remember if she had gotten to Mesogogg and Lord Zedd.

"Tommy, I'm dizzy," Kim muttered as he got a firmer grip on her upper body and held her closer to him, while she continued to lean back against him even more. She needed to lie back down or she was going to vomit up the water she had just drunk. "Let me lie down. I really don't feel good."

"Okay," Tommy said, as he lowered her back onto the table and then gave her another hug. Her powers might have been taken away, for the time being, but she still had the will to live and that was even more important.

"Kim, I need you to stay awake for me. I don't want anything else to happen to you," Billy said, as Tommy settled himself on a kitchen stool and then placed his head on her lap. He was exhausted and knew he would go to sleep soon, just because she had woken up and he was not as worried about her. He just hoped that she would not be mad at him for doing that. He didn't know if he was prepared to deal with her being mad right away.

"Let him sleep," Kim muttered as Jason walked in to wake Tommy up. Kim was barely able to keep herself awake, but she did not want him to move, as she was actually comfortable right now.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now," Jason said, as Trini walked up behind her and went to get some crackers and Sprite, to try to calm her stomach down some. She was feeling horrible right now and she knew that if she didn't get her nausea to subside then she was going to be sick for several hours. She was sure that Billy would just love to have to deal with her throwing up all over the place, as well as Jason's concussion and Kim's neck.

"Billy told me to stay awake," Kim said quietly as Jason walked over and gently traced one of the bruises. He had no idea how she had held on as long as she had, but he was thankful that they did not have to deal with a dead ranger right now. "That hurts, Jason."

"Hey, I still have some of that bruise remover," Jason said as Kim looked up at him and then shook her head that he should go get it.

"Will you?" Kim asked as he nodded his head that he would, although he was going to send Adam back in there. He needed to stay with Trini right now.

_Kira and Conner's reunion_

"Hey, how are they?" Kira asked as Conner walked onto the deck of the ship. He was so tired right now, but he needed to see her. He needed to talk to her about what these last four days had been like for him and he knew that she had been waiting for him to do so. She always seemed to be patient with him, when no one else would even sit down and wait this long to hear something.

"They're all awake now, but Kim seems to still be the most unsteady. She took it hard out there," Conner said, as he really had no idea of what had happened, but he did not have the guts to wake Tommy up and ask him what had happened. Jason was not around to stop him from backhanding him into a wall.

"Do they think she'll be alright?" Kira asked, as the coldness of the air began biting at her cheeks, turning them pink. Conner, who was holding a light jacket in his hands, shoved it towards Kira without a word, while she gave him a thankful smile. It was funny to watch him be so awkward about something, but she was not going to joke on him now. He obviously had come up here with a purpose in mind. "Thank you. Come on, sit down."

"Billy said it'll take sometime, but he hopes that it'll have cleared up by the time we get back," Conner said, as he sat down a couple of feet away.

He didn't know how far away he should stay or how comfortable she really was with him. He just prayed that this afternoon when she had given him a hug, that she had meant more than friendship by it.

"Is it that bad?" Kira asked, as she had only caught glimpses of Kim and Jason when she was down stairs. They both looked to have been through it, but it didn't seem like it would take them a long time to recover. They were more resilient when it came to injuries, at least compared to the younger rangers.

"According to Billy, yes, but we can't really talk to Dr. O about it. He's kinda hopeful that everything will be good from here on out. I don't blame, his life has been bad enough lately," Conner said, as Kira gave a sympathetic nod.

"Yeah, but I don't know if he would say that it has been that bad though," Kira said, as she knew that there mentor was proud of what they had been able to accomplish and happy to be father.

"When someone tries to kill the person you love most in the world, it's pretty bad, Kira," Conner said and she could tell that he seemed to be speaking from personal experience.

"Why do you act as if you know what it is like?" Kira asked with a smile and a slight tilt of her head, so that she could see a better angle of his face. He was so cute when he was embarrassed about telling her something.

"Because I got an idea of it the last few days," Conner said, rather shyly while Kira stood up and then went to sit down next to him.

"Oh, so you love Ethan, now do you?" Kira asked, as he looked down and the floor and then jerked his head up to face her smiling grin. "I'm just joking Conner. It's really been that bad for you?"

"I got in a fight with Dr. O my first night here. I'd say that it has been pretty bad," Conner said, as Kira stared at him. What could have possibly made him want to fight Dr. O?

"What made you do that?" Kira asked, as he looked down at the floor and then faced her, knowing there was no way to lie around it.

"Actually, he jumped because I told him that he didn't know what it was like to have someone taken away from him," Conner said, as Kira just looked at him. He had been out of his mind to accuse Dr. O of something like that when he was not in a very good mental state himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt like that," Kira said as Conner sat there, quietly, for several moments. She had rarely seen him this quiet, ever, but she knew better than to interrupt the silence. He was obviously trying to formulate some sort of response that would let her know how he felt, but it was taking him awhile.

"I didn't know that I felt this way until you were gone. I didn't want to feel this way," Conner said while he sat and rocked himself back and forth, hoping to find a way to amuse himself.

"I wish you would have told me sooner," Kira said as he looked up at her and saw that she had been silently pleading for him to look her way. "But I didn't help things, did I?"

"No, you didn't Kira. Dating Trent didn't exactly make me feel that you liked me," Conner said, as she looked over at him and laughed. He had really thought all of this out and that was saying something when you talked about Conner.

"Conner, if you are going to hold that over my head for the rest of my life, I don't want to date you. You have to learn to let things go," Kira said, as Conner placed his arm around her. It did not matter to him, whatever she asked; he would do, well within reason.

"Alright then, I let go of the past and I get you. Fair deal?" Conner asked, as Kira shook her head yes.

If they had known that downstairs, the rangers were speculating how long it would take them to agree to go out, they would have been embarrassed beyond belief, but they knew nothing. They just knew that they were heading home, after a mission that they were not likely to forget anytime soon. They were probably going to be grounded by their parents, for life, when they came back home, but it was just something they had to suffer through. They had saved the world from the wrath of Lord Zedd and Mesogogg, but they would get no fame or no glory for what they did. No one would know and they liked that, now if they could only convince Dr. Oliver to scramble their parents' memory of the last few days and everything would be perfectly fine.

AN: Alright, the fighting is now officially over, but I'm not going to leave you hanging like this. There are several more chapters to come and I hope that you will enjoy the rest of them as their ranger life is put away.


	24. Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

The long trip back home was uneventful and surprisingly restful at the same time. They were thankful for that much to happen and many of the other things that happened were pure bliss to all of them.

Kim had no more seizures, but she was still not very steady on her feet, which did worry Billy, some, but he said nothing about it to anyone. He knew better than to do that, as he wanted to get a second opinion from a doctor, before he said anything to Tommy. There was no need to worry him if this was just normal for this sort of injury, plus he had to remind himself that she was not going on her full powers. He was only allowing Tommy to give them back to her in small doses. The bruises decreased some, but not enough for her to go back to work within the next few days, as they had hoped. The rest of the rangers were fine, except for the fact that they needed a good nights sleep before they could try to get on with their lives, without having to be a ranger any longer.

"I'm going to take her upstairs and get her settled in, then I'll come get Angie," Tommy said to Hayley as she looked at Kim and stood there in silent surprise. They had only arrived a few minutes before, but he was sure that everything else that was going on could wait for a little while. The two of them needed to get some rest or they would soon collaspe from exhaustion.

She had seen Kim over the screen and thought that it was bad, but now she understood why Billy had been so worried over the last few days. She had never seen someone look like that and survive the obvious injuries that should have killed her, but Kim had been lucky that she was a ranger. That was the only reason any of them could explain Zeltrax not choking her to death any sooner and her being able to hold on just long enough for Tommy to get there.

They were honestly lucky that everyone had made it out of it alive this time, it really had been the closest call that had ever happened to them and they all hoped it would be the last close call they had to deal with, ever. They were officially done with ranger work, from what all of them could see and they were glad about it, well most of them were. They were finally free of responsibility, but that didn't seem too appealing to all of them.

"Billy, is she really going to be alright?" Hayley asked, as Billy sat down in a chair and looked to be in a completely different world, as he silently shook his head.

He had been so worried about just getting them back to Earth, that he had not had much of a chance to rest his mind, although he had slept, some. It hadn't been peaceful for him and he knew that there was still some sort of job left for him to do. He had to help them begin to shut down the Command Center, but that was going to have to wait for a few days, at the absolute least.

"She will be. She's really weak, so it'll still be a few days before she is back on her feet. Other than that everything is back to normal for them. They finally get to be with their family. It's what they need right now," Billy said, as Hayley nodded her head that she understood and then sat down in the chair next to him, sensing that he still needed his space. She didn't blame him after being crammed in that ship for the past four days, but she hoped it would subside soon so she would be able to welcome him back. She needed to be able to talk to him, if nothing more than that right now. "How's it been here?"

"Fine, except Angie's been a little bit cranky," Hayley said, trying to downplay the almost constant crying that had been going on since they had left. She did have to admit that it had gotten a little bit better over the last couple of days, but none of them knew why. "She might not even recognize Kim."

It seemed that Angie could sense that her parents might never come back, although it had calmed some over the last day or so. All of them were thankful for that and they were hoping that she would stay quiet until Kim and Tommy were back up to taking care of her. They didn't really know if they would be able to find the energy to take care of her and make sure that they got themselves back to normal. But they were going to have to; they didn't have a choice about it. She was their baby and she was top priority, although they were injured, that was still the case in their lives.

"I know, but we did everything that we could to help her. It was just too much to take care of in four days, with Jason's concussion and Trini being pregnant as well. We did the best that we could, but sometimes our best isn't good enough. We're only human," Billy said, as he grabbed her chair and pulled it closer to him, trying to insure her that everything would really be fine. She had been worried about them, not that he blamed her for that, going after some one as evil as them was a huge thing to worry about. She was not going to ever come out and ask if it went well, so he would just have to fill in the blanks for her. "Tommy is going to help with the rest. He's taking a few days off work, for personal reasons; at least that was what he told them last night. They didn't sound too happy, it seems Principal Randall is missing. Not that that is a huge surprise, of course."

"But," Hayley said as Tommy walked back downstairs. She didn't want to talk about that issue in front of him right now and decided silence was the best course of action.

Tommy walked over to Ally, who was still holding Angie, and gently took her out of her arms, with a smile crossing his face. He was so happy to see her again and he knew that Kim was too, they had been able to talk about that on their way home, even if they hadn't done much of anything else. He had not imagined that this would be the way they came back from the mission, but it was and they were changed people because of that mission. They just didn't tell anyone that, they knew that they all felt the same way. It happened every time they came this close to death and survived to see another day.

"Thank you, for everything that you have done," Tommy said softly, as to not wake Angie up. He didn't have the energy to put her back to sleep once he got upstairs, as he was planning to take a long and hopefully undisturbed nap.

"No problem, Tommy. We know that you would do it for us," Ally said, as Rocky looked at him and saw the classic signs that he needed sleep and then he would be ready to hit the mats again, with a lot less on his mind.

He was sure that Tommy was ready to be carefree again and he was ready for it as well. They had all waited far too long for this day to come and for them to be able to live in peace again. They didn't really know what peace was, but they were ready to try to figure out how to live in it.

"I'll see you at the dojo on Wednesday. I hope Kim will be up and around by then. If not, I'll call you sometime before then," Tommy said, as he exited the Command Center.

"Tommy, do you have a place we can bunk down?" Jason asked, as he knew he was not going to have the strength to drive home and Trini driving home was completely out of the question at this point, as she was leaning against him, having to will herself to stay awake, for just a few more moments. "I can't drive home."

He was more worried about her getting some rest, as she definitely needed it after the stunt she pulled, but he couldn't honestly be mad at her. He was just happy that they were both alive and he didn't have to be forced to live with the regret of losing her or their child. He didn't know if he could have dealt with that and she had already admitted that she had put him in a rough spot, but she knew he was all right. He didn't yell at her when she first told him and that was something that she had thought would never happen.

"Yeah, choose a room," Tommy said, looking down the stairs and then continuing on his way to get his sleep.

"He seems happy," Trini commented, as Jason gave her a look. He knew exactly why Tommy was happy and he'd be lucky when he was able to experience the same thing.

"He is happy. Trust me, I'm pretty sure about it," Jason said as he offered her a hand and then helped her up the stairs.

"We're coming too," Aisha said, as Zack, Rocky, Ally, Adam, Kat, and she headed for the stairs. Jason looked back at them and had to hold in a laugh, as they looked to be as exhausted as he had felt.

The younger rangers had already bunked down in the living room and they thought it might be best to leave them alone, for the time being. Their parents were probably already worried sick, so a few more hours away wouldn't do much to change that situation. They just hoped that they would be able to come up with an explanation that did not get them grounded for the rest of their teenage lives, but they knew that might happen.

It had happened to them several times in high school, although their parents eventually just quit grounding them. They were never able to stay at home more than a couple of hours, because of how frequently they had been attacked back then. It was just useless and it seemed that their parents all learned to deal with the oddness of them sneaking in at two o'clock in the morning with a black eye or worse.

"You want to stay down here?" Hayley asked as she stood up from her chair. Billy had been very quiet and she was not sure why it was bothering her today. Usually the silence between them was comfortable, but today it seemed as if Billy had many things on his mind, things that he really wanted to say to her, but he just could not figure out how to say them. "Billy, you alright?"

"No, I'm not," Billy said, as she gave him an odd look and stepped a little bit further away. That was not the response that she had envisioned him giving her when she asked that simple question. "I'm absolutely miserable."

"Why?" Hayley asked, startled at his declaration, but not surprised that this was what was coming up between them. She had been warned about what he had been thinking, but she didn't think that today was a great day for him to start talking about it. He still was not thinking like normal and she did not want him to regret anything he said now in the morning.

"Because, I can't be here all the time. I have to go and stay in Angel Grove, although I've been trying to get a job here for months. Hayley, I just can't take it anymore," Billy said as Hayley looked at him.

She had known that those thoughts had been floating around, but to hear him say it so harshly surprised her. She had thought that he had been content in Angel Grove, but it seemed that that was not the case anymore. She also knew that she had something to do with it, but she had not been willing to admit that to herself until he said something about it.

"Billy, I understand that it has been hard on you," Hayley said, as Alpha teetered through the room, but got the feeling that it was best for him to go find something to do in the closet. He never liked being put in the middle of touchy conversations and he had had it happen a few times before. He was making sure he was not going to be put in the middle of one now.

"Hayley, it's hard in more ways than you can imagine. I cannot continue to live like this," Billy said, as he was fiddling with his hands more than normal, trying to find the courage to say everything that was on his mind. He knew that if he didn't say it now, he was likely to never say it because he would lose what little bit of courage he had coursing through his veins in a matter of seconds. "I'm moving up here as soon as I can. I already have a house. I bought it a couple of months ago. I can drive to Angel Grove everyday for a few weeks. It'll be worth it to be closer to you."

"Billy, it's not that bad. I'm fine with when I get to see you," Hayley lied as she was really startled by him.

Billy, usually, thought things out and planned them to perfection, but this seemed wrong for him to do. She could imagine many of the other rangers saying something like this, but not him. He had always been the most logical out of the group, but it seemed something had finally pushed him over the edge and he was now willing to take unheard of chances.

"But, I'm not alright with it, Hayley. I can't work when I'm there because I'm thinking about the next time that I'll see you. Hayley, my life is horrible when I'm there, because no matter how much I try, I always want to be here instead. It's not a fun way to live and it is not really living if you think about it long enough. I only live on the weekends now, that is two hundred sixty days of the year that I am not alive. I can't continue to give up that much of my life for nothing," Billy said, as he stood up and walked over to the paneled board that they had built together two years ago. Why couldn't things be as simple as they were then?

"Billy, come sit down. You need to sit down," Hayley said, as she walked up behind him and steered him towards a chair, knowing that his body might give out on him at any time. She knew how tired he was and she knew he would crash soon; she just did not know when that time would be. "You need to rest and we can talk about this tomorrow."

"No, Hayley," Billy said, pulling her down into his lap and placing his chin on her shoulder. "I can't because if I don't say it now, I won't have the courage to say it again for a long time. I don't know if I can wait that long to say something like this."

"Okay, but if I fall asleep, I'm sorry. It's been rough on us too, Billy," Hayley said, as Tommy stumbled back downstairs to grab one of Angie's toys and then stumbled back up the stairs without saying a word. He seemed completely oblivious to everything that was happening and she was glad that it was that way. She didn't really want for him to give her a hard time once everything registered with his poor, confused mind. "Poor Tommy."

"He's actually faired better than most people, Hayley. Now, back to what we were talking about. The problem is I've always been able to see my girlfriend whenever I wanted. The distance makes me want to see you more, but I don't want you to move to Angel Grove. You have a good business here, and I have a job that I hate there. I bought the house a few months ago, thinking that I would just save it until I got a job up here. Then Angie was born and then Mesogogg came back and before you know it, I'm practically living in Reefside. It won't be much of a move, I've been dealing with it for weeks already," Billy said, pausing to collect the rest of his thoughts. He had never come so close to telling her everything and he just wished he would have had the ring with him right now, because he would have proposed in a heartbeat. That time, however, seemed as if it was going to have to wait. "I can't continue to live there when I really want to be here, it's not fair to either of us."

"Well, I'm not going to tell you that things will be much different when you do that. You've been doing it for weeks already, but you still haven't seen me much more. You'll still get home late and leave early in the mornings. When will I ever get a chance to see you?" Hayley asked, as she knew how Billy's job was right now.

They always had him working extra hours and although the pay was great, it didn't make him feel so wonderful. He had missed so many things because of his job and he was just getting tired of having to drop everything he was doing whenever they called on him. He wanted a job where he could work nine to five and then if he wanted to work over time, he could, but his boss didn't understand that at all.

"When you are closing down for the night or when you have to go in extra early," Billy said, as she stared at him. He had really thought things out, even if it didn't seem as if he had this time. "I need for this to work and I'm willing to do anything to make it work, Hayley. It has to work for me."

"Okay, Billy, but you seem to be getting really serious about us," Hayley said as Billy shook his head that she was right. "You scare me when you're serious. I'm not used to it."

"I shouldn't. I've been serious since the beginning. I just don't talk to you about it very much. I've always been scared to admit it, because I'm afraid I'll get hurt," Billy said as he felt his head nodding closer to her back with each passing second. She thought he needed rest and he knew that he did now. He was just excited to be able to see her again and that was what had given him the added spurt of energy when he first got in. That energy, however, was fading fast and he knew he was about to fall asleep. "Hayley, you were right though."

"About what?" Hayley asked as Billy nudged her to stand up, so that he could head up stairs and find a bed to lie down on.

"Me needing to rest," Billy said, tiredly, as he stood up and headed towards the stairs, which looked much longer than normal.

"Billy, just go ahead and lay down. I'll be up there in a little while," Hayley said, as Alpha walked back out of the storage closet and saw that Hayley was barely holding herself up.

"Are you alright?" Alpha asked, as Hayley looked over at her right hand robot.

He had sat and listened to her gripe and complain over the last week and a half about everything that was happening to them. He had been the one to watch her weep after talking to Billy late at night and now she had to admit that although he was back, she was not all right. She knew that she needed exactly what Billy had been talking about, but she was afraid to admit it to herself, for fear of getting hurt. That was what had happened to her the last time that she had fallen in love.

"No, Billy's scaring me. I've never heard him say anything like that to me. He always avoids it," Hayley said. She was ready to settle down, but she had never heard Billy talk so openly about the subject to her. He had always seemed as if he was too shy to mention it, but the way he talked about it made it seem as if it had been on his mind for awhile.

"He just wants to tell you that he cares. They all seem to do that when they get back from something as shocking as that mission. It really makes them think about the things that are important to them. Go get some sleep, it's not as if you have slept well since they left. I can take care of what is left to do," Alpha said knowingly, as Hayley conceded defeat and then headed for the stairs.

"Wahh!" Angie cried, as Tommy rolled over slowly and got out of bed, feeling some more soreness than he had a few hours before, but the tiredness was beginning to drain out of his body. If he could only get just a few more hours sleep, then he would be able to function like a semi-normal person.

Kim was propping herself up, prepared to get out of bed, but thought better of it when she saw Tommy was already up. He had already told her that he would take care of Angie for the next few days, until she was better, but she still hadn't been willing to allow him to do that. She still wanted to try to take care of Angie so that Tommy would have a chance to rest. She knew that he hadn't rested any while he was on the way back from their mission and she felt that he deserved a little bit of rest. He, however, had overruled her thoughts and wishes for the time being.

"Is she alright?" Kim asked groggily, while Tommy shook his head yes. He then picked Angie up and took her downstairs to get a bottle to feed her with.

"You have got to sleep so Mommy and Daddy can. We can't really take care of you right now," Tommy said to Angie, as he sat down in the rocking chair and began rocking her to sleep. Within a few minutes, Angie was asleep and Tommy had gone to sleep as well, while Kim still lay awake upstairs in their bed.

"Well, I guess they're staying down there," Kim said, bitterly, as she rolled over and went back to sleep, just a little bit mad at Tommy.

Most of the day, they slept, waking only for a few brief seconds before rolling onto their other side and falling back into a deep sleep. None of them were ready when they heard a resounding crash of a vase and a scream, which cause all of them to jerk to life. They had no clue what was going on.

"Tommy, what has happened here?" James asked, as Martha went to go get the broom and dustpan.

They had been shocked to find the house unlocked when they arrived, but were even more shocked when they walked in and saw six teenagers asleep in the living room, with bruises all over their bodies. Then Martha saw Tommy and it had caused her to push a vase off of a table and let out a loud scream of anguish. She had not been expecting this sight, at all. He looked absolutely horrible to her and she could not remember seeing him like that, ever. What could have possibly been going on over the last week?

"Dad, where did you come from?" Tommy asked, as he peered over at him and he motioned to the rangers to go back to sleep. There was nothing for them to really worry about except getting the rest that they desperately needed.

He then looked down at Angie to make sure she was still asleep and lucky for him, she still was. He was thankful that she had inherited the ability to be able to sleep through almost anything and he would have slept through the vase breaking, if his father had not said something. His dad had woken him up when he was a kid and his voice still woke him up when he was sleeping better than almost anything else.

"Your mother insisted that we come up here, Tommy. You haven't called us in over a week and she was starting to get worried that something had happened to you. Son, where did you get all of those bruises from?" James asked, warily, as he was not sure he wanted to know the answer to the question. He had an idea of where it could be from and he was not sure that he wanted to face the reality of what they had probably just been through so soon after walking inside.

"The damn monsters," Tommy said, as he saw Jason walk to the balcony of the stairs, but he saw Tommy's parents, and then turn right back around. As long as it was someone that would help, he didn't care that they were intruding on their rest. He had just been afraid that he would find another monster down there and that was something he didn't want to deal with. He honestly hoped that he would never have to fight again, unless he wanted to spar against someone and right now, he even doubted that would happen for a long time. "Dad, we're fine, really. We just need some time to sleep."

"I wouldn't call the way that you look fine, Tommy. Uh-uh, you let me finish this time, mister. I have a few words of advice for you. I haven't seen you look this bad in years and I can remember you coming home and looking pretty beat up. Why don't you let the two of us help you some, son? I'm sure that you could use someone to cook for you for a few days and watch after Angie while you get better. Lets admit it, you're not up to doing much of anything, Tommy," James said, as Tommy looked over at him and then went to stand up.

He knew that he needed to head back upstairs, but if his parents were willing to keep this a secret and watch after Angie, he was all for it. It sure would make things a lot easier on him and the others for a little while. They needed things to be easy on them for a little while. They had so much that they had to recover from this time and if they didn't take the time to do that, then it was going to catch up with them again later on.

"You can watch her, but just tell Mom I'll explain it to her later. I really need to get back to Kim, she's probably mad at me by now," Tommy said, as his father gave him an odd look.

"What happened to her?" James asked, as he had gotten the feeling that the injuries he saw downstairs were only the tip of the iceberg.

He was almost sure that the older rangers had had a harder time in this battle, by just looking at Tommy that was evident. He was not sure if he wanted to see Kim or Jason or any of the other older rangers. It scared him to think of how badly they could be injured as well.

"You'll see when you come up there. Just let us get some rest and tell Mom that there probably aren't any groceries in the fridge, we were going to go grocery shopping the night we had to leave. If she goes into town, I'll pay you back for whatever she buys," Tommy said, as his father nodded his head that he understood then, he took Angie out of his arms.

Martha, then walked in with the broom and dustpan, but decided she could ask questions later. It was obvious that Tommy was in no mood to answer any questions about what was happening around there. He was stumbling up the stairs now and she could only hope he would get some rest, but that had never been something that had sat well with Tommy. He always seemed to be on the move, but he looked like he really needed rest this time and it didn't seem that anything else would help him until he had managed to get some rest. She just hoped that he had learned his lesson, because whatever had happened to them had obviously not been a pleasant experience.

"James, is he alright?" Martha whispered, as to not wake the teenagers that had gone back to sleep so quickly after she had broken the vase. What had these children been through?

"Just tired and a little bit beat up. Let's see what they need from the grocery store and we'll go get some groceries. That way, whenever they wake up, we'll be able to fix them something to eat," James said, as he got the feeling that after they slept for about a day, that they would be as hungry as a pack of ravenous wolves. He did not want to be the unlucky one to receive their wrath for not having any food, so he was going to fix the problem as soon as he possibly could. He was sure that that was the reason Tommy had told him about the food; otherwise, he would have left that alone.

"Alright, but do you want to stay here with Angie? She probably shouldn't be taken out with the way Kim might get. I'm sure that she is just as bad as Tommy right now," Martha said, as she could imagine Kim's anxiety if she found Angie was gone and she was not able to wake Tommy up. He was known to sleep like a log when he was as tired as he looked to be now, but she didn't know that Kim could wake him up, even if no one else could. That was something that she had never learned about her daughter-in-law.

"I'll stay and watch after all of them. They'll probably sleep for a few more hours before any of them wake up again and trust me, they'll be hungry, Martha," James said, as Angie snuggled up against him and he let out a soft laugh at his granddaughter.

It was funny to him, how this little girl, who could have been killed by what was going on around her was oblivious to the truth. If she only knew what her mother and father had been through to insure that she would be all right, that she would live a life without having to constantly worry about monsters showing up at her door. She probably wouldn't be sleeping so peacefully right now, but what a miracle it was to be young and innocent. It allowed her to be able to be happy, when so many could not be if they had lived in this family and known what their possible fate was.

"Hey," Kim said, as Tommy crawled into bed next to her. He carefully put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him as he settled himself right behind her and he felt her mold her body to his. It felt so good to be able to put his arms around her and not worry about Angie for a little while. He loved his little girl, but he knew that he needed to take care of the woman lying next to him first. It made him feel as if he could help her get well, knowing that his father was downstairs, although he knew that time was the only thing that would truly help her this time. A doctor probably could have helped, but it was not worth risking the questions. They still had to protect their identity. "What was that noise?"

"My parents showed up, so they're taking care of Angie. Now we can get some undisturbed rest," Tommy whispered, as he felt his eyelids becoming heavy again and felt the need to go back to sleep. "I'm sorry I fell asleep down there. I really just meant to give her a bottle and come back up."

"It's alright, we're both tired," Kim said, closing her eyes and quickly falling back to sleep. The whole house was silent for the next several hours, as they all tried to sleep away their pains and many succeeded in doing so, while others just had them fade away slightly.

"Hey, Jason," James said, as Jason stumbled into the kitchen, looking rather alert and very hungry. His short brown hair was sticking out in various directions, but he was oblivious to his appearance. He was just focused on getting something to stop his stomach's growling. He had tried to get back to sleep several times, but his stomach would not allow him to do that. "I guess you're the first one that has willed themselves to get out of bed."

"That took a lot of willpower," Jason said, as Trini walked into the kitchen and then sat down in one of the chairs. Jason walked up behind her and placed a hand on each of her shoulders, gently massaging them, to keep his mind off of other things. She was still tired, but she couldn't ignore her growling stomach any longer, as she had padded through the house after Jason. It also didn't help that she didn't sleep well whenever he got out of bed anymore, but she didn't want to make him feel guilty about being hungry. "Have you been upstairs to see Kim and Tommy yet?"

"No and I don't think I'm going to go up there just yet. Tommy said to leave them alone and I'm going to do that, for the time being. If Angie starts missing her parents, then I may have to go wake them up," James said, as Angie let out a cry and he began rocking back and forth in his chair. He, honestly, hadn't meant for that to be her cue, but she calmed down after a few seconds. She seemed to know that everything was all right and he was grateful for that. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't care, as long as it is something that is edible," Jason said, as he honestly knew that he would eat almost anything right now and he knew that at least half the people in this house felt the same way. They were hungry and tired and there was not much that they could do to change either of the conditions.

"Trini, do you care?" James asked as she yawned and then shook her head that it didn't really matter to her either. She was just going to have to eat some crackers soon, as she was starting to feel sick, but the crackers had helped on the ship and she hoped they would help on Earth as well. "Well, I think Martha will whip something up for you in the next few minutes. Jason, why don't you take a seat and get comfortable?"

"Do you know what happened?" Trini asked out of curiosity, as Jason sat down next to her.

She knew that Tommy had told his father about them being rangers, but she didn't know if he had told him about what had happened over the last few days. It seemed like he would, but she didn't know if he had had the chance. Tommy needed to rest like everyone else here and she was sure that his father had picked up that on his own.

"No, but I'm sure Tommy will eventually tell me what is going on around here. He just didn't seem to be in the mood to talk about anything earlier today," James said, as he was fairly sure he knew why Tommy didn't want to talk.

He was exhausted and among other things, worried about his wife's health. Jason and Trini didn't look all that hot either, but they looked to be in about the same condition as Tommy, although that did not relieve his stress. He knew that at least one of the rangers had to take it hard and he was afraid about who that one could be.

"Yeah," Jason said, as he couldn't really think of anything else to say.

"The two of you alright?" James asked, as they looked all right on the outside, but he couldn't tell if that meant that they were lucky or if their injuries just didn't show.

"For the most part. I have a slight concussion, but other than that, both of us are fine," Jason said, as Trini nodded her head in agreement as she saw Conner and Kira stretching out on the floor, before they walked into the kitchen.

"Tommy…Tommy wake up," Kim said, shaking his shoulder and he finally opened his eyes to see her looking at him with a smile on her face. She could see that he was still tired, but she had waited as long as she could before knowing that she had to have something to eat or she was going to be sick.

"You okay?" Tommy asked, as he was worried that she had woken him up because something was happening or she was not feeling well.

"Yeah, I'm just hungry," Kim said, as he sat up and looked over at her. That was something that he could handle. "Can you help me get downstairs?"

"You up to walking?" Tommy asked, as she nodded her head that she would at least try to walk part of the way downstairs. "Come on, I'm sure Dad will be happy to see the two of us up."

"Tommy, what will they say? I mean, these bruises don't exactly leave much to the imagination," Kim said, as she grabbed his hand and steadied herself on her feet. She didn't feel as strong as she had hoped she would, but at least she wasn't sitting on the floor this time. That had happened the first time she had tried to walk after her spell that she had had while abroad the ship.

"I know, but I'll explain it. I don't know if my mother will believe it, but I'll give it a try," Tommy said, as he slowly walked next to her, making sure that he could catch her if she suddenly became dizzy, which was not out of the equation. She had been given back her powers, but those had not seemed to help much and now it seemed that she was just going to have to gradually get back to normal. "You're doing better today."

"Thanks, but I still don't feel that great," Kim said, as he slipped his arm around her waist and gave her his other hand to hold. He didn't feel comfortable with her walking down the stairs and he just hoped that she understood why he was doing this. "What's going to happen now?"

"I don't really know, but we have plenty of time to think about it," Tommy said, as she paused on one of the steps and took a step closer to him, which made him smile down at her. She wanted to do this, but he still didn't know if she was really up to it. "You sure you want to do this on your own?"

"I'm not by myself, you're still here, aren't you?" Kim asked as she opened her eyes and the room stopped spinning. She really knew how close of a call it had been this time and she was just happy that she was alive. The slow recovery was fine, as long as she was going to live and she got the feeling that Tommy felt the same about the situation. "I just need to stand still for a little while."

"Take your time," Tommy said, as he saw his father look up from the dining room and he knew that he was trying to see what was wrong with Kim, although it would only become obvious once she got in the clear light. He was hiding her far too much on the stairs.

"Thank you," Kim said, taking a step down and holding onto Tommy a little bit tighter as she felt one of her knees give. They continued down the steps at a snails pace, having to stop every couple of steps for her to regain her equilibrium, but she made it down the steps on her own and it was the first step towards progress she had had in days.

"It's not a problem," Tommy said, kissing her on the tip of her nose and then walking next to her into the kitchen, where he saw his father's eyes widen at the sight of Kim's injury. She had been the unlucky one to get the most apparent and probably the worst injury.

"Hey, Mr. Oliver," Kim said with a smile, as she sat down in the chair next to him and then gently took Angie out of his arms. Angie had been stirring from her sleep over the last few minutes and finally seemed to be alert enough to see that her mommy was holding her. "Hey there. Oh, you have no idea how happy Mommy is to see you."

"Kim, are you feeling okay?" James asked, as Tommy looked at his dad and gave him a look that said she was feeling perfectly fine and to not press this issue, thank you very much.

"Yeah, I'm okay, still a little bit unsteady on my feet, but okay," Kim said, as she continued to coo at Angie and Tommy sat back and watched with a smile on his face.

Although she was still not completely back to normal, Kim was still the wonderful mother that he had imagined her to be. He really was lucky, in more ways than he could count and he was glad that he had been blessed. He had no reason to ever be sad about anything; the two of them were all that he needed in his life.

"What happened?" James asked as Martha walked into the room and almost dropped the bowl she was holding, but Jason had seen her coming and quickly took the bowl out of her hands, in order to save the food. Kim looked fine, except for the large bruise around her neck, which resembled handprints. Now, they couldn't say that this was some normal event. They were going to have to finally tell the truth about the odd occurrences that went on around this house.

"Zeltrax tried to strangle me," Kim said, quietly, as Angie laughed up at her, but suddenly stopped when she felt the change in the mood.

"Zeltrax? Who's that?" Martha asked, as Tommy looked at the floor and then over at his mother. He knew Kim was not going to answer the question, but he really was not comfortable talking about it right now. He, however, was not going to have much of a choice about the matter. His mom wanted to know exactly what had happened and it was about time that she found out the truth of it all. "Tommy, who is the man that did that to her?"

"He was not a man Mom, he was a cyborg," Tommy said, matter-of-factly, as she stared at him and then the realization of the statement sunk in. Tommy really was a Power Ranger.

"Thomas James Oliver!" Martha screeched as Tommy looked over at her and wondered why in the world she was yelling at him. She then hit him on the shoulder with the wooden spoon she was carrying and he just stared at her. He hadn't done anything wrong, that he knew about. Why was he getting hit with the spoon? He had already been through enough traumas over the last few days. "You put your wife in danger! You put your child in danger! What would you have done if she had died out there, Tommy? What were you thinking?"

"Mrs. Oliver, he was thinking that he would let some of his other rangers down if we didn't go to help," Kim said, as she did not blame Tommy for what had happened to her.

She knew the risks on her own and had willing gone into the mission knowing those risks. He hadn't pressured her to go, if the truth had been known, he probably would have rather her stay home, but she didn't. It was just as much her fault as it was his or anyone else's that she had been hurt by Zeltrax.

"Tommy, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Martha asked, still outraged at her son's irresponsible behavior. She was shocked that James had not joined her in this particular crusade, but it seemed as if he already knew what was going on and that irritated her even more.

"I think about those questions every time I go out there and Mom, I really almost lost her this time. Isn't that enough to have to deal with?" Tommy asked, as he managed to choke out the last few words, while Kim gave him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his shoulder with her hand, trying to reassure him that she understood.

She knew that it had been rough on him and she didn't imagine that it would get better on him for a long time to come. He was going to have nightmares about that mission for a long time to come and she was sure that he would never forget it. The sight of Zeltrax holding her against that wall was emblazoned in his memory, no matter what she tried to do to change it, it would always be there. It was part of the life that they had chosen to live and they couldn't change the past, they just had to learn to deal with it.

"Mrs. Oliver, really, it was my choice too," Kim said, trying to defend Tommy and keep his mother from coming at him even harder. He really was not prepared to deal with this sort of assault on so little sleep and she did not want him to snap for some unknown reason.

"But why go at all? You have a child now, Kim," Martha said, as Kim nodded her head that that was true, but she did have a very good explanation for it all.

"They captured three of our rangers. We couldn't let them down, by staying behind," Kim said, as a few tears streamed down her cheeks, while Kira and Conner looked at the two people that had taught them everything that they knew about being rangers.

"So, is there anything else going on it your life that we don't know about?" Martha asked, pointedly as Kim and Tommy shook their heads no. They were not going to give them a tour of the Command Center or anything like that, it was simply enough that they knew about them being rangers.

"I'm pregnant," Trini said, as she did not want Mrs. Oliver to come after her and she was surprised when Mrs. Oliver gave her a long hug.

"I always knew the two of you would wind up together. It took him long enough to find the courage to ask you out though, didn't it?" Martha said with a smile, as she went back in to the kitchen.

"The two of you really are amazing," Kira said, as Tommy looked over at her and smiled. Everyone who knew them thought that they were wonderful people, but she wished that more people knew they were rangers. It would explain to so many why they were the way they were and why they didn't take the things for granted that most people did.

"No, we're just ordinary people, Kira, that are asked to do extraordinary things," Tommy said, as he had rehearsed the lines so many times.

It seemed on the outside that they were normal, so why not say it? Their life depended on a certain amount of normalcy and that was all that they were trying to make known to people. Their careers as Power Rangers, were over and they hoped that it was for the final time. They had a new life, a family to protect, and a will to grow old without ever seeing another monster, if they could help it.

AN: This isn't the end of the story, but it is the end of their ranger work in my little world. I hope you enjoy the next few chapters, as you see how they work to change their life back to what seems normal.


	25. One Day Closer to Normal

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Back to School_

It was early on Monday morning when Kim awoke to the smell of coffee and the sound of the timer going off in the kitchen. She rolled over and saw that Tommy had already gotten out of bed and listened for any noise that might be coming from the bathroom, although she knew that he was probably in the kitchen fixing some sort of breakfast. She then rolled back over to her other side and saw that Angie had been taken out of her crib as well. It was then that she remembered that this was her first day back to teaching and she could only imagine why Tommy was being so nice to her today. He had already had to go back to work and he didn't like it at all. He expected her to be the same way and he was right. She did not feel that she was going to like this at all.

"Why are you up so early?" Kim asked, as she walked into the kitchen while putting her shirt on. It had been a long time since she had had a morning without having to do a thing with or for Angie and Tommy could tell she was thankful. Tommy was already dressed in his customary khakis and polo shirt, while he placed breakfast on the table. He couldn't read her this morning and that bothered him a good bit. "Do you have something going on that you need to tell me about? You're acting weird, Tommy."

"No, I just thought you should have some breakfast before your first day back at work. You know how those kids will be," Tommy said simply, as he picked Angie up out of her car seat and walked over to sit down in the chair across from Kim. "Now are you all right?"

"Yeah, I just have the feeling that it is going to be a long day. My kids are probably going to be wild since they haven't seen me in so long," Kim said, as she just had the horrible image of her kids tackling her around the legs and pulling her to the ground. She had had those images many times before, especially on her first day alone in the classroom some four years ago, but it had subsided over the last few years, however she knew she had changed a lot since she had Angie.

She had been through so much, no one really knew about it and that was the way that it was supposed to stay. She was having to begin the biggest cover up of her life and she was alone at her school, she just hoped no one asked her why she had taken those few extra weeks off. It might just push her over the edge today, because she knew she was going to have to lie to some of her colleagues. They had wanted to see Angie, but her being gone and then injured prevented them from being able to do that.

"They can't be that bad, they'll probably just be glad to have you back," Tommy said with a grin as Kim took a bite out of the toast he had fixed and then sipped some coffee. She was not so sure that he would be right.

"Do you have to go to the dojo today?" Kim asked, as she was trying to figure out what time she'd be picking up Angie from Kat's house this afternoon.

"Yeah, but only for a little while. I'm just going to get the updated schedule from Rocky. Have you talked to Ally about the gymnastics classes?" Tommy asked, as he stood to get a bottle out of the fridge and Kim smiled as she imagined Angie drooling all over him. He had fed her a few times in the morning, but he had rarely burped her afterwards and Kim knew that she was going to drool all over him when he did that today.

"Yes and she just told me to come back whenever I'm ready. She actually said that she doesn't expect me to come back until the summer session. She'll be handing over the advanced classes then, so I'm going to work my ass off for the next few months to get back up to that level," Kim said, as Tommy knew that was true, but that she'd be able to do it. She had always been able to bounce back from hindrances easier than he could.

"Well, just warn me when you start working on the beam. I am not leaving you there alone, no matter what you say on the matter," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. He was never going to let her live that incident down for the rest of her life.

"Tommy, I'll stay away from that if you want me to. I can, basically, explain it to them or get Ally to do it. She loved the beam," Kim said, finishing off her coffee and then walking over to place the cup in the sink.

"No, I trust you. I just didn't want you to run off and tackle that first. I don't think that would be too smart," Tommy said as he put Angie back in her car seat. "You really up to all of this? I mean it's only been two weeks since we battled them."

"The bruise is gone, so I'm ready to work. Don't worry, I'll be fine and I'll call you if anything starts bothering me," Kim said as she slipped on a pair of flip-flops, then grabbed her purse. "Hey, what's that look for?"

"Just trust me that it is harder than you think," Tommy said, picking up Angie's car seat. He was going to take her this morning and then Kim was going to pick her up this afternoon. "Well, I better get going. Even though Randall's gone, I don't want Crittenden to start hating me."

"I don't think he would. He has always seemed to understand in the past when you were late," Kim said as he gave her another look.

"Why are you leaving so early then?" Tommy asked with a mischievous smile and she started backing towards the door.

"Because I miss my friends," Kim admitted as he pinned her against the door and she decided not to struggle to get away. There was really no use in it, he was much stronger than she had ever been or was ever going to be and she knew he wouldn't hurt her, on purpose.

"Well, have a good day," Tommy said as he kissed her on the cheek and then let her go so that she could get her car and head on to Reefside Elementary.

"Good morning, Mrs. Oliver," Janice said as Kim walked into the teachers lounge with a stack of papers to run off and a look of dissatisfaction on her face. She could only imagine what Kim had found this morning in her classroom. It had not exactly been a peaceful time in that classroom while she was gone.

"Hey Janice. How's it been?" Kim asked, as Janice stood up and placed her hands on the top of the copier machine, so Kim couldn't copy anything. She had several questions that she needed to ask the young lady standing beside her. "Janice, what are you doing?"

"When am I going to see that baby of yours? The day I came over there Hayley said that the two of you were lying down and since Angie was asleep that you'd bring her by one day. Did you even get the message?" Janice asked, as Kim's eyes widened.

She had no clue that Janice had come by, but she believed that it had probably been while they were on the way back from Nonatasion. Nothing had been told to them while they were traveling back, they were more focused on just getting them back home and getting them well. She understood that, but Janice wouldn't unless she told her and she didn't want to do that. She had been able to keep it a secret for years, why reveal something now?

"No, I didn't. I'm so sorry. I wanted to, but some things came up. I have some pictures and I'm picking her up this afternoon. Do you want to come with me?" Kim asked as Janice released the copier machine and took a step back.

Kim looked very different to her and it seemed to be much more than the normal loss of weight after bearing a child. She almost looked smaller than she was before she was pregnant. It just didn't seem normal at all, but she was not going to ask any questions unless she had proof. She didn't even know where to begin to look for proof, so she was just going to let it go. Kim had always had these types of things come up and it was just better than no one knew about it.

"Are you sure that you are really ready for today?" Janice asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She didn't have much of a choice about how ready she was. She just had to go in there and do what was necessary to get through this first day back. She knew that it would be easier as the days went by and it would hopefully be back to normal by the time school ended.

"Hey, those pictures are in my purse. I'll be over there in a few minutes," Kim said as Janice left the room and Kim went on about her business of coping papers. She didn't think that she would really have to worry about Janice anymore, but she also didn't remember all of the pictures that she had with her.

"Find them," Janice said, as she approached her in the hall with the purse outstretched. She was not sure if she wanted to dig in Kim's purse and she was sure that Kim would accept that.

"Here they are. There's only one or two that anyone else beside her look decent in," Kim said, as she had looked back on the pictures and she really did look horrible, but she had gotten used to it. There were, however, a couple of pictures that she had meant to take out of the stack, for her own sake but she had forgotten to do that.

"What is this?" Janice asked, as Kim looked at the picture and noticed the bruise that was still obvious on her neck and her face went pale. No one was supposed to see that picture, except the people that knew about what was going on during that time. How was she going to explain this to Janice? She could already see the story coming together in her mind, but how was she going to change that picture without using the truth? She really needed to keep most of the facts a secret. "What happened to you?"

"Janice, I can't tell you, but it wasn't Tommy, trust me," Kim said, as Janice stared at her. How could it have not been Tommy? He was the only one that had even been around her over the last few weeks, but she knew that he hadn't been at work. Maybe there was some sort of explanation that didn't have to do with him at all. That was what she hoped.

"Like hell you can't. How can it not be Tommy? He is the only person that has been around you while you have been out," Janice said, as Kim took a deep breath and then tried to think of a way to explain around her being a ranger, but she couldn't see it. She knew she would have to try to explain it, but she doubted that Janice would believe it. This was not something that anyone would say as a reason for being hurt; not even in her wildest dreams did she imagine having to talk about it.

"It was Zeltrax. I'm sure that you have heard of him," Kim said, as Janice took a good look at her, trying to figure out if she was lying. She didn't seem to be, but why would she bring that thing up? That didn't really have anything to do with her life, did it?

"But how?" Janice asked, as Kim stopped outside her classroom door and then looked down, she couldn't tell this. She hadn't even really talked about it to Tommy yet and she was not going to talk to anyone else about it until she talked to him.

"I can't tell you, but I trust that you believe me. Tommy wouldn't do that, you should know him better than that by now," Kim said, sadly, as she knew that many people often got the wrong impression of Tommy.

He was overprotective, but if they only knew half of the story, it would make sense to them. They would understand that he had to be that way in order to protect the both of them from everything that could happen. He was not the sort to ever hit her, but it was something that had crossed several people's minds when they had seen bruises on her, but she couldn't tell them about her other life. That life was always meant to be a secret, no matter what anyone else thought.

"Okay, so I can still see Angie this afternoon?" Janice asked, as she thought that she had blown all chances of it by accusing Tommy of beating her, although it did look that way in the picture.

She just knew that there were some things about Kim's life that no one else knew about and it was best that it was kept that way. That was why she had not pressed the issue of finding out why that had happened, it was just part of Kim's life. There was no other way for her to explain it.

"Yeah, I'm not mad at you. I didn't mean to put those pictures in there," Kim said with a smile, as one of her children walked up to her and gave her a firm hug around the legs. She just hoped that the rest of her class was this happy to see her back.

_Afternoon_

"Mrs. Oliver, you have a visitor in the office," the school secretary said, as Kim looked up from grading papers. Her class had P.E. at the end of the day this year and it allowed her to really have a chance to unwind before she went home to see what sort of day Tommy had. If he had had a bad day, then she wouldn't be in the mood to have a fit herself because of her planning and he was grateful for that as well.

"I'll be there in a minute," Kim said; as she placed her papers in a stack and then stood up to leave her desk. She had no clue who could be coming to visit her, but ever since Richard had come and visited her, they had always called her to the office, instead of letting the person in. She had the feeling Tommy had blessed them out about that one, as he had lost a great deal of sleep.

"Hey," Tommy said, as Kim walked into the office and she had this confused look on her face. What was he doing here and dressed in his karate clothes? "Rocky had an emergency at the dojo, Ally got sick and he had to take her to the doctor. So, I had to go teach classes, but Crittenden understood. I went ahead and picked up Angie, I didn't want you to have to worry about it."

"Can he come with me to my room?" Kim asked the secretary, as she was not sure that they would allow it, but she did know who he was.

"I don't see a problem with that," the secretary said, as Tommy smiled at her and then picked up Angie's car seat and carried it behind her.

"Tommy, you didn't have to do that," Kim said, as he nodded his head that he understood that, but it was more than that to him. He knew the personal hell it had put him through to go back to work and he could tell by looking at her that she had been through the same thing. She just didn't want to admit that he was right about the whole situation.

"Kim, I know. Where's your class?" Tommy asked, as he sat down on top of one of the empty tables. He could barely see Angie's arms wriggling in the car seat and he was sure that Kim would not stand where she was for much longer.

"They have P.E. right now, but why don't you stay? Janice wanted to see Angie and I promised her that she could. She said that she came by one day and Hayley told her we were sleeping," Kim said, as Tommy shook his head. He couldn't help but wonder how many more messages like that one had never been sent to them after their near death experience on Nonatasion.

"I'm not surprised," Tommy said, as the kids began to file in to pick up their book bags and then go out to the buses. Many of them looked at him with wide eyes, wondering who he was, but he did have a few that waved at him, as they had seen him at the dojo. He didn't teach any of them there, but they all knew who he was.

"Come on everybody. We better go to the buses," Kim said, as they scrambled to line up behind her and Tommy had to keep himself from laughing at the cuteness of the sight. They might have all been the same age, but he could tell that some of them were definitely more prone to acting older.

"Mrs. Oliver, I want to stay," a little boy whined as Tommy stared at him.

If he had had one of his students tell him that they wanted to stay after school with him, he would freak out, but Kim just ushered the boy out the door and followed them towards the buses. It took her about fifteen minutes, but when she returned to her classroom, he could hear the hush that had fallen over the building. That was something that all teachers could appreciate, no matter what age the children were.

"That bad every day?" Tommy asked, as he knew he could not take the whining, which was why he went into high school education.

"No, they are just happy to have me back, surprise, surprise. It'll only take me a few minutes to pack up and Janice said she was going to swing by the room," Kim said, as she began putting the various supplies she would need into her bag. She didn't plan on taking a lot home today, but she always took home more than she needed to and Tommy had told her that several times. He, however, had gotten used to it and decided to just keep his mouth shut about the situation.

"No hurry here. I don't really want to face going home and having to deal with the other issues in our life," Tommy said, as they had been trying to decide when it would be best to let go of the powers.

Trini had let go of them as soon as she had gotten back, to keep them from affecting the baby, but the rest of them still had their powers. They just didn't want to let them go to have to turn back around and take them back. That would do all sorts of damage to their immune system, which was going to be weakened when they let go of the powers anyway.

"It can't be that bad," Janice said, as she knocked on the door and saw Tommy sitting on one of the tables, wearing his karate clothing. It seemed odd to her that he was wearing that, but she had stopped asking questions a long time ago. Their life was certainly more complex than anyone else's that she knew and she just accepted it. "How are you doing, Tommy?"

"I'm good," Tommy said with a smile, as Janice headed over to the car seat. From the pictures, she had an idea of what Angie would look like, but she knew nothing of her personality. Lucky for her, Angie had woken up and was playing with the light blanket Tommy had draped over her on his way inside.

"You're just the prettiest little girl," Janice said cooing at Angie, as she reached out and tickled the bottom of her foot with one finger. "Is it too much trouble to take her out of the car seat?"

"Not at all," Tommy said, as he reached over and quickly undid the straps, as he had become some sort of a pro at it over the last few weeks. He then gently picked her up out of the car seat and handed her over to Janice.

"Got your hair and his eyes," Janice commented as Kim sat down next to Tommy. She was glad to see the two of them this afternoon and she knew Tommy had been right. Today had been really hard on her and she was ready to race over to Kat's to pick Angie up and just hold her, but Tommy bringing her by saved her from that. "How are you really doing?"

"We're just tired, but that's all right," Kim said, as Janice noticed Tommy shake his head and then place his arm around her, carefully rubbing the right side of her neck with his bare hand.

Something about that action made her think back to earlier that day and she noticed Tommy was taking particular care to not touch certain areas. Why couldn't they open up to other people and let their burden be felt by others? It seemed like it was almost too much for them, but they were not going to cave in and she just had to accept that. They didn't want anyone else to help them.

"Okay, I'll let the three of you go ahead and go home," Janice said, as she handed Angie over to Kim, who nestled her against her chest and started rocking back and forth. She didn't want to let go of her baby. "Be careful."

"We will be," Kim said, as Tommy looked over at her and smiled. He could not believe how much the woman beside him had changed in the last year, but only he knew where the real hurt remained. He had no clue how long that would take to heal, but he had seen much worse from her before.

_At Home_

"You want me to fix supper?" Tommy asked, as Kim walked across the kitchen and grabbed the breast pump out of the cabinet. She had not had to feed Angie today and she could not believe the difference it made in her. She had not been this sore since she had gotten back from the mission.

"Please," Kim said, simply as she stripped off her shirt while walking out of the kitchen. She had already lost her shoes several steps before then. "I'll be back down in a few minutes."

"That's fine," Tommy said, as he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a pizza out of the freezer after a few moments. He knew that Kim had overcome her fear of eating pizza since she had had Angie, but that was not what he wanted to talk about tonight. He needed to talk to her about the nightmares she had been having.

"Hey, are you doing all right? You look a little bit odd," Kim said, holding Angie tightly against her and walking over to sit down next to him.

"Thinking, mostly about you," Tommy said, as she shook her head. He had been worried about her ever since they had come back, but it was getting better and he knew she was not the only one suffering from nightmares. Jason was suffering from them as well.

"Tommy, I'm fine," Kim said as Angie let out a cry and Kim reached down and felt her head. She was not hot, but there had been a bug going around the high school lately and she did not want Angie to get it.

"That's what you say, but you don't have to deal with hearing you scream out in your sleep," Tommy said, as the buzzer went off and he walked over to the oven to pull out the pizza.

"Let's eat, then we'll talk," Kim said, as this was not the type of conversation she wanted to have at the dinner table with him tonight. There were other things that they needed to talk about.

"Have it your way, but it is not going to help putting it off. We are going to have to face facts, eventually," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head. They ate their meal in a rare silence as Tommy seemed to be thinking about what he needed to say to her.

"What do you want to know?" Kim asked, as Tommy looked at her. There was so much that he needed to know about her reactions to the power shift right now, but he couldn't ask that.

"Kim, are those dreams about Mesogogg?" Tommy asked, as he had been keeping his fear from her. He knew the answer the moment the question left his mouth, but he still had to hear it.

"Yes and Tommy it is the worst thing I have ever had to relive. I didn't know it would be that bad. Tommy, they won't leave me and you know how it is, it can take months for it to leave you completely," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head.

"I know, Kim, but there is a lot more that you have going on with you. Look, I want you to tell me what every dream is about from now on. Maybe it will help them go away," Tommy said, as Kim smiled at him and then gave him a hug. These were the types of things they had to get used to, as they had memories that would haunt them for a lifetime.

AN: I hope that you liked this chapter, please review if you feel like it.


	26. Back to the Command Center

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Exploring the Command Center_

In the months that followed the defeating of Lord Zedd and Mesogogg, the rangers lives returned to normal. Well, as normal as a ranger life could really be. The rangers had to debate when it would be the right time to do some things and for months, it seemed as if no time was right, until the summer finally came. They all seemed to not be as busy and it allowed them to begin the long and painful process that they had to go through in order to have a real chance at a normal life.

They still had their powers, except for Trini, but it was only a matter of time before they gave those up as well. They just wanted to make sure nothing showed up in the next few weeks, then they were going to hand over the powers and go into retirement, for the final time, at least they hoped it would be the final time. They knew that their chances to serve again were slim to none, but it might happen. They had had those same thoughts every time that they had retired in the past.

Jason and Trini were now happily expecting the birth of their first child, without a care in the world, at least compared to what had been on their shoulders earlier that year. They had no thought that this would have been possible a few months before, but their lives seemed to be as normal as they could be, except for the fact that they had been rangers for years and even that was not that bad. It was actually one of the most normal things that they could say they had done, compared to some of the missions they had been on.

One particular Saturday, they all embarked upon a different sort of mission, a mission that would take them down memory lane to a place that they had not dared to enter in a very long time. They just hoped that they were ready for what they might find and for what they had all tried to forget, as their time as rangers had ended for the first time years before. They rarely went back to that place, but now they had to, for themselves and no one else.

"Oh, look at Mommy's big girl," Kim cooed, as Angie wriggled in her bassinet and reached up towards Kim, so that she would hopefully pick her up and she did after a few seconds of smiling down at her. "Now, we are going to go take a bath and then go to Angel Grove to see all of Mommy and Daddy's friends. How do you like that?"

It still seemed almost too good to be true, but right now, she was just happy about everything in her life. She had a home and a family with Tommy and she didn't know what else could make her life more complete right now. She finally felt as if she was truly able to live again, as she had before she had become a ranger back in high school. The problem was, she had all the memories of being a ranger that kept her from being completely normal, and she knew she'd carry most of it with her to the grave. It was just a lot of responsibility for someone who had so many more years to live and she was not exactly sure how to face it.

"I don't know if I like it," Tommy said, as he walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and saw Kim was holding Angie up above her head and he watched her giggle with a smile spreading on his own face.

The two of them had no idea what they did to him every time that he saw them acting like that and they probably would never know that they made him the happiest man on Earth right now. He had never imagined his life turning out so well and with such a good family, but it had happened to him, somehow. Not even Lord Zedd and Mesogogg had been able to destroy what was meant to happen in his life and they had tried to do that. They had honestly tried to do that to him just a few months ago and he knew that if they had managed it, he would have been a wreck right now. There was just something there that had made it all worth their while and they knew what it was like to live a life with worries, now they could worry about other things. They didn't have the responsibility to save the Earth anymore.

"It doesn't matter if you do, we are going to go to Angel Grove. We agreed that we would go to Angel Grove today, Tommy. You know that, honey," Kim said with a big smile, as she gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek and he, in turn, kissed Angie on the forehead while Kim watched him. She really was lucky, even if everyone told her that he had always been hers. There had always been the chance that he would have fallen for someone else and that they would have never been back together. That was what she called luck, him not finding anyone, and after the years that they had spent apart from each other the two of them being able to get back together. She had never thought in her wildest dreams that day would have come, but it did. "It should take me no more than thirty minutes to give her a bath, Tommy. I'm not going to let her play with the water too much today, you know how much she likes it, but we have things that we have to do. I know you want to go ahead and get down there before the traffic gets too bad. I bet there are going to be quite a few people going to the beach today."

"It's fine, we're in no hurry today and we may even join the beach crowd, if we have the chance," Tommy said, as he sat down on their bed for a second before he stood up to walk to the nursery and get Angie something to wear for the day. After he had chosen a little one-sy, he walked back into their bedroom and picked up some photo albums that Kim had taken out the night before and casually flipped through them.

They were going back to their first Command Center today, to pick through all of the things that were around there and to think back on their time as rangers. They knew, deep down, that the last battle they had been in would probably be their last time ever to be rangers and it saddened them, more than they ever thought it would. When they were young, they had thought it wouldn't affect them this way. That was before they had retired and come back, however many times it was now. Not being a ranger changed their lives in more ways than they could imagine.

Conner, Kira, Trent, Ethan, Ashley, and Charlie were taking the change fairly well. They knew everything about how they had been brought in and exactly why it had been necessary, but it was hard to explain to them why the older rangers didn't know their reason. They had never had the chance to ask and it hurt them, in many ways. They, the older rangers, had so much to put behind them and there was so much that they still needed to know about their past, but there was no guarantee that they would find out any of it. There were so many questions that were still left unanswered and they could only hope Zordon had left them the answers in the Command Center, somewhere.

They were going today in search of the answers and in the hopes of being able to spend some peaceful time in the Command Center, before other people finally entered their safe haven. People were getting closer and closer to entry every day and if they didn't go get what was theirs, their identity would soon be known to the world. Thank goodness, Billy knew the warning signs of the Command Center's security becoming weaker. Otherwise, they might have found out on the evening news that they were the Power Rangers. That would be a fun thing to try to make go away and they knew they wouldn't be able to do it. They could just imagine the reporters knocking at their doors; maybe they would have to go to Aquitar in order to get out from under the spotlight. They could just imagine the type of headline that would make for the papers, but they planned to never have to see that happen.

"Whatcha looking at?" Kim asked, as she carried Angie out of the bathroom, with a tan towel wrapped around her as she blew a raspberry on her stomach, which made Angie smile a toothless smile and even let out a laugh. Tommy continued to stare over at her as she walked over and she was not sure if he was feeling well. She had not seen that look on his face in quite awhile and she had honestly forgotten what it meant he was thinking. "Tommy, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about some things Kim. You are so pretty right now," Tommy said, as he reached down and gave her a kiss before Angie slapped him on the face with her tiny hand and he was forced to break away and he couldn't help but give her a slightly reproachful glare. He really had wanted to kiss her for a little bit longer, but Angie didn't seem to like the idea of that happening.

"I'm glad that you think so, Tommy," Kim said, with a slight laugh, as she had taken a look in the mirror this morning and had not exactly loved what she had seen.

She had lost, basically, all of the weight she had gained from when she was pregnant Angie, but she hadn't fixed herself up or done anything to her hair since then. Her hair was in a ponytail all the time and she was lucky to be able to put on mascara before she did anything for the day, as she usually got up only a couple of minutes before Angie woke up in the morning. They had been pulling a lot of late nights with extra command center work that was needed before they could begin to shut it down properly. She was busy being a mom and she had been teaching school up until a week ago. She didn't really have time for herself anymore, but Tommy could care less about how she looked. He was just happy to have her there with him.

"I'm not joking, Kim," Tommy said, as he gave her another long look before giving her another kiss and this time Angie didn't hit him in the face. She just snuggled closer to Kim's shoulder and looked up at the two of them. "I mean it. You are the prettiest woman I've ever seen."

"And you are a wonderful man Tommy," Kim said, as she looked up at him and then looked over at Angie who had her hands around a few pieces of her hair and was pulling Kim's face towards her. It seemed she wanted a little bit of attention. "And you, are my baby."

"Our baby," Tommy said, gently, as Kim looked up at him with a smile and then walked over to the bed to change Angie into a diaper and some clothes. She was not surprised to see Tommy's choice of clothing on the bed and was glad that he had picked something easy to put her in. She wriggled way too much when they were trying to put her in clothes and over the last few months they had found out what clothes were the easiest to put her in quickly.

"Can you go get me a blanket and the diaper bag? I think we'll be ready to go once we have those," Kim said, as she put Angie's pale yellow one-sy on and buttoned the snaps on the legs with only a little bit of trouble.

"Here you go," Tommy said, as he walked back into their room with the blanket and the diaper bag in tow. "Do you have some food for today?"

"I'm going to grab it on our way out," Kim said, as she picked Angie up off the bed and let Tommy throw the blanket of both of their heads with a smile crossing her face. "Tommy…"

"Can I at least carry her out to the car?" Tommy asked, as Kim grinned up at him as he took the pink and white checkered blanket off of her head.

"Yes, you can," Kim said, as she let go of Angie and then went to grab the diaper bag and held the blanket in her hands. She stopped at the refrigerator on the way out the door and grabbed the bottles of milk they had stored in there sure that they were going to need all of them before the day was over.

"You ready for this?" Tommy asked, as he sat down in the driver's seat and Kim placed the blanket over Angie in her car seat. He figured that today was going to be an emotional day for all of them and he was not sure how well she was going to react to all of it.

"Yeah, it's not going to be that bad and you'll be there if something gets to me," Kim said with a wink as she grabbed his hand and he looked over at her, wondering if there was anything else she wanted to say to him. It just seemed that with everything ending, they always had one more thing to say to each other before they were done talking. "I love you, Tommy."

"I love you, too," Tommy said, as he backed the car out of its normal place and then turned it towards Angel Grove. It was going to be a long ride for the two of them, but it was something that needed to be done before it was too late. They really didn't want Angie to remember any of it, as they planned to keep it a secret, unless she ever bluntly asked about it. That was something that they doubted would ever happen, unless she stumbled upon the command center downstairs and they were going to lock that up over the summer as well.

_Command Center (Angel Grove)_

"Hey, how's it been?" Kim asked, as she walked in the Command Center and saw that most of the others were already there.

She walked over and gave Trini a hug and then looked down at her rounding belly and smiled even broader than before. It was hard to believe that Trini was really pregnant, but she couldn't have been happier for Jason and Trini being able to start a family. It had taken them long enough to figure out that they loved each other and many of them had hoped it wouldn't take them that long to figure out that they wanted kids as well.

"It's been fine," Trini said, as Jason walked up behind her and placed his arms around her. He was so happy to know that they were going to have a child and he had spent every moment with Trini that he could. He had stopped his overtime completely, as he knew he had to get his priorities straight now. Tommy had told him that much a couple of days after they had gotten back and he had taken his advice to heart. He did not want to feel as if he had missed out on any part of this child's life and he was sure he would catch hell if he did do that. The other rangers weren't exactly forgiving when it came to how a child should be treated by their parents. They had been through enough to know how precious life was. "Someone, won't let me out of his sights, though."

"I wonder why Trini," Kim said with another smile before she turned around to see Tommy placing the car seat on the floor and then squatting down to take Angie out of it. "You need some help?"

"I got it," Tommy said as he picked her up out of the car seat and settled her against his chest.

Angie was content to stay there all day, as Tommy was around less than Kim was because of his work at the dojo, but Tommy enjoyed having a child much more than most would believe. His little girl wouldn't stay little for long and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew his parents had been right when they had talked to him soon after Angie was born. Kids grew up too fast and he didn't want to lose his chance, Kim understood and she felt the same. Angie would grow up and while she was little they had to do the right things, they knew that you only get one chance to raise your children.

"He's a great dad," Trini said, as Kim watched him walk around with Angie, while talking to the other rangers that had assembled there today. "He really is, Kim."

"He has his moments," Kim said, as she still watched him and Jason and Trini exchanged a glance, knowing that they had better just leave the subject alone. It was obvious Kim wanted to be alone with whatever thoughts she was having and they thought it best to leave it that way.

"Where's Adam?" Tommy asked, as he looked around and saw that he was the only one missing out of the rangers that had been expected to come today.

Some of the rangers were no longer on this planet and for those, they planned to send their archives to them before they closed down the command center in Reefside. They were also going to take Tanya her ranger stuff, as she had not been able to secure a day off from the hospital. They didn't want any of her news to get out either; none of them needed that type of career blow now, just when they had really been able to settle into their career choices.

"He had a big night last night. I'm sure he'll be here in a few minutes," Rocky said, as they all gave him a curious glance and waited for him to explain what he was saying to them. He was not making any sense to them right now, as Adam had not told many what he was planning to do. Rocky now knew he shouldn't have opened his mouth because Adam was not going to appreciate them knowing about it, if things didn't go well. "He proposed to Kat last night, I'm sure he forgot to set his alarm clock or something like that. I know that is what I would forget after a night like that."

"Wow," Aisha said, as she had not heard from Adam what his plans were with Kat. That now left only three couples that were not either engaged or married and she was not betting that Zack would propose before Rocky or Billy. He just seemed to be taking his time with moving things along and she was about to move on along to someone else. She just couldn't wait forever on him. She wanted to get married sometime this century and it might not be to him at this rate. "Lucky them."

"Why don't we go on down to the storage room? Adam should be able to find us when he arrives. He knows what we were planning to do today," Billy said, logically, as he headed towards that room and the others followed behind him. He, personally, did not want to spend a lot of time here, as they could be discovered at any moment. The Command Center's security was not what it used to be, but they had to take their chances, in order to protect themselves. He knew that it was still refusing those that had not been rangers entry, but they no longer had to have a power coin to get in. He had been able to walk in without any powers a year ago. That was when he noticed the deterioration and he watched it more carefully since then. Now seemed to be the best time, they had just finished a mission and their life was being changed. Why not clean out the only thing that linked them to being rangers? "It's not very organized, but we should be able to find and take any of the things that would identify us as rangers."

"Okay," Zack said, as he looked at the giant room and wondered where in the world they would start looking for the items that might reveal their identity.

That was the true reason that they were searching through all of the materials today, but they all knew that in some ways it had more to do with them knowing that they had truly left ranger responsibilities behind. They just wanted to get some things that they could remember their time as rangers by and this was the only place that they could find those things.

"Oh my goodness," Kim said, as she reached down into a pile of stuff and notice a picture of her and Tommy that Alpha must have taken while they weren't looking.

They were so young back then and it was obvious that they had been in love. She felt tears forming in her eyes and she suddenly kneeled down so that she could try to recompose herself without Tommy seeing her. She really hadn't thought that things would get to her this bad and she didn't want to draw anymore attention to herself.

"Hey, what did you find?" Aisha asked as she walked over and saw Kim holding an old picture in her hands, with her eyes squeezed shut, in an attempt to not cry. She did not want to start crying so soon today. "Oh, Kim. Hey, don't be sad, you have him now, don't you?"

"I know, it's just hard to believe everything we've been through," Kim said with a smile as Tommy looked over at her and shook his head. He had known it would only be a matter of time before she started crying about something that she saw in this place. It held far too many memories of things that had happened in the past to the both of them.

"Hey, the uniforms are over here!" Rocky yelled, as he came upon a pile of helmets and suits. The array of colors made him feel comfortable, but he knew that those suits were just that, suits, as long as they did not have a power coin to go with it. They could put them on and go fight, but they were normal humans under them now. It wouldn't take very long for someone to figure it out and they weren't going to take that chance.

"Wow, they don't look like they've changed any," Jason commented, as he picked up the red uniform and helmet, before realizing that this was not the one he had worn. It must have been Rocky's. "Rocky, this one's yours."

"No, it's Tommy's," Rocky said, as he picked up his red suit and showed it to Jason while Tommy looked over at the red suit with a tiny bit of disdain. He had never been particularly fond of that suit. Too many bad things had happened to him in it and he didn't want to have to remember the bad things that had happened.

"I don't want it," Tommy muttered, as Kim walked up beside him and they all looked at him, wondering why he would choose to leave this suit behind. He had always seemed to be fine in whatever color he landed in next. He, however, seemed to hold something against the red ranger suit and they didn't ask him why he did that. They were not sure that they wanted to know the answer to that. "Andros can have it."

"Tommy, you can take it, if you want to," Kim said, as he looked over at her and shook his head. He was not going to bring his red ranger suit into their home. There was absolutely no way that he could live with it being under his roof and many of them wouldn't understand that, Kim would, but he just couldn't explain it now.

"I really don't, I'm satisfied to have my white ones and my black one," Tommy said with a smile, as he reached down and picked up the pink ranger suit with one hand, while holding Angie tightly against him. He really wanted to get off the subject of him taking the red ranger suit. They knew that he had been the leader, he didn't need a red ranger suit to prove it, and he was sure that some of the others from that time understood it and Kim probably understood it better than anyone else did. "I think this one is yours, not Kat's."

"I don't even think I could still fit in this suit," Kim said, taking it out of Tommy's hands and holding it out in front of her. He just shook his head in disbelief at how she could still worry about how small she was, he knew that some of the others would get tired of it, but they were not saying anything about it right away. She had only mentioned it once and that was really the only time that she needed to mention it. "Where's the Ninja suits?"

"We'll find them, I'm sure they're around here, somewhere," Jason said, as he was now carrying his and Trini's suits and helmets in his arms. Trini hadn't been herself lately and he wanted to be certain that nothing was going on that would make her feel bad. "Trini, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Trini said, as Kim gave her a critical look and noticed she was gazing over at something in the corner of the room, but she saw nothing when she followed her gaze. "I just never thought that this place wouldn't be used for ranger work anymore. It's hard to believe that it has come to this. That we're having to take our things out in order to protect ourselves."

"Well, who is to say that it won't be used for ranger work in the future? It's just that we have to protect ourselves right now, like you said, in case someone is able to get in here, without being a ranger. We don't want our identities to be revealed after all of these years of keeping it a secret," Billy said, as Adam walked down into the storage room. Things had gone well last night, surprising well.

"Look who just walked in… now why didn't you tell us about your big plans?" Aisha asked, as she backed Adam into a corner and Kat walked out from behind him, a little bit surprised at Aisha's actions.

She had seen Kim or Trini be this aggressive towards all of the male members of the ranger teams, but she had never seen Aisha act like that before in her life. She should have known it was coming though, all of the rangers had it in them to be like that at times. It just seemed to be in their nature that they could be pushy, but it didn't show most of the time, otherwise they would be fighting each other every minute of the day.

"Because I wanted them to be kept a secret," Adam said, as Aisha glared at him and then gave him a big hug. "Ish, are you mad or happy? You're kinda confusing me."

"You tell me what her answer was and I'll tell you if I'm mad or if I'm happy," Aisha said, as she had not noticed Kat, while many of the others had seen her walk in behind Adam. Kat was now struggling to not laugh at Aisha, but she didn't know if it was wise to start laughing, yet.

"Why don't you ask her?" Adam asked, as Aisha looked at him and then spun around to see if she could find Kat in the room with them and she spotted her standing on the opposite wall.

"What did you say?" Aisha asked, walking up to Kat, who simply looked down at Aisha and smiled. She was not going to say anything right away, she was enjoying the look on Aisha's face too much. "Oh, come on, stop the suspense. I need to know these types of things."

"I said yes," Kat said, as Aisha gave her a hug and then went and tackled Adam again, who merely laughed at his best friend's actions.

"Tommy," Kim muttered, as she had continued to look through the room, listening into what they had to say. She knew Aisha well enough to guess her actions and she knew they only had a limited amount of time up here. They were heading to Billy's after this, to drop off their things. Then they were going to look around Angel Grove, they had been told that it had changed a lot. They just needed to see it to believe it. "Tommy!"

"What is it?" Tommy asked walking up behind her and seeing that she was staring at an old trunk. It wouldn't have been odd, in other storage houses, but it seemed out of place and even more so, it had his name on it. That just really made him nervous as he had no clue what might be in it or what it might mean. "I'll open it, take her."

"You probably shouldn't do that. There's no telling what is in there, Tommy," Kim said, as she was wary of anything that had a person's name on it, as it usually led them to unpleasant findings.

"Kim, it's in the Command Center, I don't think it will be anything too bad," Tommy said, as he lifted the lid, but was suddenly blinded by the light spilling out of it. After a few seconds the light subsided and he looked down into the box, which seemed to hold a biography of his life. There were things from his childhood; things from before he moved to Angel Grove, and things that he didn't want to relive, all brought back to memory by the items in the box. Where had this come from and what did it mean for him?

"What is it?" Kim asked, as she walked up beside him and he started pulling out some of the items and he eventually emptied the box, except for a smaller box inside that he could not move, no matter how hard he tried to do so.

"Hey, give me a hand with this," Tommy said, as she kneeled down beside the box and laid Angie down on the floor next to her. She reached down and touched the box, but it was hot to her touch and she jerked her hand away. She could feel a small burn coming up on her fingertips and began gently blowing on it as Tommy looked at her hand. "You okay?"

"It's hot," Kim said, as he looked at her and then reached her hand in there with his own on top of it. He had the idea that this might work. "Tommy, please, it'll burn me."

"Do you trust me?" Tommy asked, as he saw Angie scooting away towards the picture of the two of them he had taken out of the box. He really didn't want her scooting around too much in this place, but there were some things that had to be attended to quickly.

"Yeah," Kim said, as she looked at him, wondering why it would matter if she trusted him right now. She didn't plan on reaching back in that box again. "Tommy, what are you thinking?"

"It's got both of our names on it, trust me. I know that this will work," Tommy said, as he gently placed her hand on the box with his on top of it and then lifted the lid with his other hand.

"You finally found it, didn't you?" Zordon's voice boomed, as Kim stared at the box and then looked over at Tommy. This was not what they had expected to find inside of the box. Actually, they didn't know what to expect, but Zordon's voice was definitely not it. "Take it, it's yours."

"You do it," Kim said, as she sat back on her heels and Tommy tried to get whatever was in the box, but it didn't work. He couldn't get it alone.

"It won't let just me take it. Just put your hand in the box," Tommy said, as Kim sat back up and reached into the box, but felt nothing. Tommy, however, had his hand on something and was intent on getting it out of the box. He pulled and it came out of the box. "What the hell?"

"Tommy, what is it?" Kim asked, as she leaned over and picked Angie up, who was holding onto a pair of Tommy's gloves that they had not been able to find when they were looking for his uniform two Christmas' ago. It seemed like Zordon had had some sort of plan for them after all.

"It's half of a coin. Funny, it looks like one of yours," Tommy said, as Kim looked around the room and saw that many of the rangers were stooped around similar boxes, getting things out of them that they needed and wondering why they were there in the first place. "Hey you'd probably be better off finding the pair of them, if your wife was a ranger too."

"I know," Jason said, as he was digging through his own and had come to a similar box. What did Zordon have in there for them?

"It won't let me open mine," Zack said, as he had tried and it seemed to him as if this was a sign that things were not going right in his life.

"Me neither," Aisha muttered, as she looked down at it and then sighed. There was no use, if Zordon had a purpose about this, then they wouldn't be able to break into the boxes, no matter how hard they tried.

"Kim, you okay?" Tommy asked, as she was shaking her head, as she walked up on her box and she didn't want to go through it. She didn't want to be forced to face the facts of what she had done. It had hurt more people than herself and even if she said she was over it, it still rattled her to think about it too much. "Hey, you have to go through it. We need to find whatever it is that is in your box."

"Tommy, I don't want to deal with it. I don't know if I can again," Kim said, as he reached towards the box and tried to open the lid and to his surprise, it let him, but what he saw inside was not as bad as Kim expected.

"Hey, I didn't know that you used to dance," Tommy said, as he picked up a pair of tiny ballet slippers and Kim looked over at him and gave him a smile. She had never really talked about dancing as a kid; she had had to quit when her gymnastics training became harder. She had liked it, but she loved gymnastics, that was what made the choice easier for her. "I don't see anything to remind you of the letter and if you find it, we'll just push it to the side. It is over now. It is just part of our past."

"Okay," Kim said shakily as she reached into the box and continued to pull her possessions out until she came to a similar box and she reached for Tommy's hand to help her open it.

"Well done, Kimberly. I am certainly glad to know you and Tommy are back together," Zordon's voice boomed as Kim continued to stare in shock, she then reached into the box, while Tommy left his hand there and pulled out the other half of the coin, but it was his, not hers.

"This has to be a mistake," Kim said, as she looked down at the coin that had come out of her box, but Tommy then held up his coin and placed the edges even with hers and to their surprise it began to bond. "I don't feel so good."

"Neither do I," Tommy said, as he had to wonder what in the world this coin was going to mean to them in the years to come and he was hoping Zordon's voice would boom out again and it soon did.

"Rangers, your powers shall never fully leave you and as you have this coin, it shall connect you, if there is ever a need. Be careful and let the power protect you," Zordon's voice boomed as a ray of light shot up and Kim jumped away from the light, as it was taking up a great deal of space between her and Tommy. The coin dropped in between them and they stared down at them, then a sudden spurt of energy shot from the coin and knocked both of them into the wall and Tommy held Angie a little bit tighter to him. He was glad that Kim was not holding her, as it had almost made him let go of her.

"Oh," Kim moaned, as Tommy placed his arm around her and gently massaged the back of her neck, which he was sure had gotten hurt again while they were thrown up against the wall. This was something Zordon should have warned them about, but he didn't know the circumstances that were surrounding them now. "Where's Angie?"

"I have her, don't worry. She's fine," Tommy said, as the others looked at the two of them. If they all had a coin that did that, then they were not too willing to open up their boxes and do the same thing. "It won't throw you unless you stand over it."

"Okay," Jason said, as he and Trini joined their coins and then let it drop, and walked a good distance away from the coin. Jason did not want her to get hurt at all and all of them agreed with his way of thinking. The last thing they really needed was to have to take someone to the hospital and make up another fake story.

Over the next few hours, they continued to round up all the things that they needed to take away from there. It was amazing how much Alpha and Zordon had of them, but they still had not been able to find some answers that they needed. They could only hope that Alpha would be able and willing to answer them when they came back to Reefside.

"Is everyone ready?" Billy asked, as they nodded their heads. They had been walking up and down the stairs for the past thirty minutes loading everything up, so that they would be able to leave before three o'clock. "Just follow me back to my place here. Then we'll go visit Ernie and you can walk around the town if you want to, but I warn you that things have changed so much since you left."

AN: I know, it's a kinda crappy ending to the chapter, but I hope to make it up to you in the next chapter with the little tour of Angel Grove. I hope that you enjoy it!


	27. Ernie's Juice Bar

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, Alabaster, and the kids at Ernie's.

_Ernie's Juice Bar_

_Ernie's POV_

I never thought I would have had a day like this after some of my favorite teenagers left Angel Grove over a decade ago to go to college and explore the world. They traveled to many different places and they all have done different things with their lives, but that still doesn't explain to anyone how they got to my Juice Bar this afternoon.

I was wiping down a table that had been recently vacated and I noticed that the noise level in the Juice Bar dropped a great deal. Now, only two things have ever made that happen here, an attack from Lord Zedd or some people that were not expected to be in here entering. I hoped for the latter as I was sure the Power Rangers were very tired of their work, it seemed that they had just had the chance to retire one more time. They have been at it for far too long. When I looked up, I saw ten adults heading towards me, with smiles on their faces. Man, I have missed those kids and I'm sure this town has missed them in more ways than they believe.

"Hey, Ernie," Jason said as he waved at him and then they went to settle down at the table that they used to sit at. This was a little bit too much for some of them, but Kim and Trini were trying to hang on to their emotions. "You been doing all right?"

"I've been doing good, Jason. Now, why haven't I heard the news you were expecting a child?" Ernie asked with a grin and Jason couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. He hadn't come over here in a long time and they should have told Ernie, but it had never crossed his mind to do so. "Don't worry about it Jason. I know that you are busy with that job of yours. Now who's this little one?"

"Angie," Kim said with a smile as Ernie walked over and tickled her feet, which made her smile a toothless smile up at him. Angie didn't always take well to new people and Ernie was lucky that he just seemed to have the gift of being able to get along with kids.

"Well, I knew the two of you would have beautiful kids," Ernie said as a little boy walked up to him and began pulling on his shirt, desperate to get his attention. "Yes Michael."

"Aren't they the ones that are on the walls?" Michael asked bouncing on the balls of his feet. Sure enough, there were several pictures of them when they were younger adorning the walls of the Juice Bar. They had not realized how much of an impact they had left on this place, but Ernie had been sure that they would be remembered.

"Yes, they are," Ernie said, as the boy looked up at them in awe and then waved over to his friends to come over. They had not been expecting to be treated as celebrities, but there was no stopping the little kids from doing that now that they knew who they were.

"That's them!" Michael exclaimed excitedly as he jumped up and down and his friends joined in. The teacher of the class walked over to see what had caused his class to leave him, but it was obvious that he did not know the fabled history of the teenagers on the wall. Ernie knew much more about them, but he had decided he wouldn't put that on the wall, he would just talk to them about it later.

"Michael, why are you disrupting my class? They are merely some friends of Ernie's," Chase Daniels said sternly to the boy and Ernie looked at him with a rather reproachful glare. It was time that Chase learned some history about the Juice Bar that he had been avoiding the entire time he was here. He didn't want to know anything about this place, now the kids that paid him were making him learn.

"You're Tommy, aren't you?" Michael asked eagerly, completely ignoring what Chase had said to him. They were much more interesting than karate right now.

"Yeah, I'm Tommy," Tommy said, as the boy ran up to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the wall where his picture was. He had to admit that Ernie had quite a few up there of him, along with some rather miscellaneous articles about his karate conquests. He always had the sneaking suspicion Ernie knew about them being rangers, but they had never asked him about it, just in case he didn't know.

"You really did all of that?" Michael asked, pointing up at the pictures, which showed some of his finer points. He couldn't lie to the boy, but those pictures didn't show everything Tommy had been through, although it seemed odd that Ernie had placed a picture of Kim and Tommy at that age there.

"Yeah, I did. Do you look at this wall a lot?" Tommy asked, as he squatted down next to Michael and he noticed that several of his other friends were being dragged over to their pictures by youngster's and being begged to retell their past here.

"Yeah, you're a hero," Michael said, as Tommy looked at the boy. He tried not to let that throw him off track, but it sure was hard for him.

"I'm not a hero," Tommy said, as Michael eyed him and then decided he would say exactly what he thought. He didn't think that this adult would go crazy if he said exactly what he thought.

"Then what are you?" Michael asked, as Tommy squatted there dumbfounded. He had never been asked that question before by a six-year-old.

"But Jason, why don't you teach here?" Randy asked as Jason thought about it. He had thought about dropping everything several times before, but he hadn't done it. He knew that he couldn't really risk it with a baby on the way, but it made him think. He was miserable where he was, so why wasn't he here? Why hadn't he started a dojo in Angel Grove?

"It's not as simple as just wanting to be here," Jason said, although that did not fly in the six-year-olds mind. If you wanted to do something, why not do it? He knew that he was going to have to explain it in more depth than that, just by the look on the boy's face.

"You wanted to be here then, why can't you be here now?" Randy asked, which made the most sense to him, but he could tell Jason didn't understand. "You're a hero here, we'd take you back."

"I'm…I'm not a hero," Jason said, as he looked up at Ernie, who was obviously enjoying the scene taking place on the floor. He could tell that these adults were being forced to answer questions that he would never put to them. The kids saw them as heroes; he couldn't help if they took that as a more literal meaning.

"Then what are you?" Randy asked, and Jason was now wearing a look very similar to Tommy. He didn't think a six-year-old would ask him that kind of question.

"Trini, you're one of the best girls in karate. I want to be just like you," Alexis said as Trini smiled down at the girl. This girl wouldn't want to be just like her if she knew about her other life. Everybody seemed to love the Power Rangers, but not many people wanted to be them.

"You want to be you," Trini said, as the girl shook her head no and Trini didn't really know what to say.

"No, you are my hero. I want to be just like you," Alexis said and Trini looked over at Jason. She didn't feel too good right now.

"Kimberly, did…did you really leave here?" Danielle asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She was not sure why Ernie had chosen to put that article up on the wall, but he had and it was obvious the kid had read it, several times and she had probably even gotten some help with some of the words from Ernie. "Why?"

"I wanted a chance to be in the Olympics," Kim said as the girl looked up at her and merely nodded. There was not much more she could say to that.

"Did you make it?" Danielle asked eagerly and Kim shook her head no. "Why not?"

"I had to leave the training facility," Kim said, although she could tell the little girl was working her mind in overdrive.

"Why don't they have any gymnastics schools here? My mommy won't let me go to Reefside to take gymnastics," Danielle said, as Kim looked at the little girl. She couldn't believe that all of the gymnastics schools would close, but karate had taken so much of a strangle hold in Angel Grove over the last decade or so.

"I don't know why they don't," Kim said honestly.

"But you could teach me," Danielle said. "You're a hero around here."

The other rangers were dealing with a similar last question from these kids, before they had to go into deep thought. They had never thought that they would be called heroes without people knowing what was going on with their lives. Ernie obviously hadn't told them about them being rangers, but these kids had always imagined seeing the people on the walls and now that they were, they had so much they wanted to let them know.

"I'm just a guy, who likes karate and I have a wife and a little baby girl. You know what, why don't I give you a lesson today, my treat?" Tommy asked the boy as he nearly tackled him to the floor as he gave him a hug and then ran over to tell Ernie what was happening. He had never imagined that Tommy would teach him karate.

"I'm a husband, I'm going to be a father, and I'm a man who loves the sport of karate," Jason said as the boy looked up at him wondering how he couldn't see himself as a hero. "You don't like that answer, do you?"

"No, I don't," Randy said as Jason held in a laugh. He could see why the kid thought he was a hero, Ernie had enough to make anyone think that, but man he couldn't believe the kid's guts.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Jason asked with a smile as the boy's eyes widened. Jason was asking him what he wanted him to do. It made him happier than anything else could.

"Teach me," Randy said, as Jason nodded his head that he could do that, but he felt there was more in the bargain. "Forever?"

"Let's just see how one day goes. Then we'll see about me coming back here more often," Jason said as the boy turned to go tell Ernie his exciting news.

"Why am I your hero?" Trini asked, as the girl looked up at her and then thought for a second.

"Because you weren't supposed to be able to do all of that," Alexis said as Trini looked at the girl. She was going to cry and she knew it, but she didn't know if she'd be able to compose herself long enough to talk to the girl.

"Look, you see the guy over there in the red shirt? Go tell him that Trini wants him to give you a lesson, okay?" Trini said, as the little girl gave her a huge hug. Although she was not getting Trini to teach her, she was getting Jason to, which was all right, she guessed.

"I'm not a hero," Kim said, as the girl looked at her with a deep, unwavering gaze. "And I live in Reefside. Look, maybe your mom could bring you up there on Saturday. I have a class then."

"Mommy doesn't want to take me to Reefside once a week. It costs too much," Danielle said, as Kim understood what the little girl was feeling. She had had to beg her mother to let her pick up gymnastics instead of dancing and she had found something she loved. That was what it seemed this little girl was trying to do.

"Then how about this. I come to you on the weekends. Of course, I would have to have some more students, but I think it could be arranged for me to teach you here," Kim said, as the girl smiled and gave her a hug, before running off to Ernie. She was glad that she could at least make her happy with a small amount of her time.

"Ernie, who are those people?" Chase asked, as he watched his class scatter around the Juice Bar with various members of the group showing them how to do some sort of karate move or in Kim's case, a forward roll.

"They're the people on the wall. You know, the ones that you have never asked about," Ernie said, rather pointedly as the boy sighed. He had known that Angel Grove had its fair share of history in karate, but Ernie was right. He had never bothered to ask why those teenagers' pictures were placed on the wall.

"Okay, Ernie. Who are they?" Chase asked, as Kim sat down at the table next to them and took Angie back out of her car seat.

"They are some of the first kids that ever entered this place. They were a lot like those six-year-olds you see over there, excited about everything. They brought the karate competitions here, they brought gymnastic coaches here, and they, most importantly, brought a sense of security here. You are too young to really remember them and since you come from Reefside, you probably have only heard about them in passing. They are the teenagers that made this place come alive and that is why they have that wall dedicated to them," Ernie said, while Angie began to cry and Kim let out a long sigh. She was going to have to start walking laps if she was going to have any hope of getting her settled down.

"Ernie, why are they here?" Chase asked, as Ernie shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know and quite frankly he didn't really care why they were here. Kids were enjoying themselves and he was having a ball watching it, maybe Chase would be able to pick up some pointers for all he knew. "You're not going to answer me?"

"You have my answer. I don't know, but I'm glad they came. Enjoy yourself, get to know them and maybe you'll figure out they didn't come here with the purpose to mess up your class," Ernie said with a smile as he walked back behind the counter and he could still hear Angie's cries coming loud and clear from the hallway.

"Shh, baby," Kim muttered, as she rocked Angie back and forth as gently as she could. She wished Tommy could walk over there and help her, but he was giving a lesson and he had learned to zone out everything else when he was giving a lesson. "I know you are ready to go to sleep. Come on, go to sleep."

"Come on, kick," Tommy said encouragingly as Michael continued to kick at his padded hands. The boy had good form, but he hadn't had a way to really harness his energy, which was a little bit much, even for him.

"How are you getting him to do that?" Chase asked, as he could barely get Michael to stand still. He often times just had to let him run.

"One on one practice can help when people can't focus," Tommy said, as Michael continued to kick the pads, not really, hearing what Tommy was saying.

"Do you do this for a living now?" Chase asked, as he had gone over and read the papers on the wall and taken a good look at the pictures. He had to admit that what they did as teenagers was not expected at all.

"Kinda. I teach at Reefside High and I own a dojo in Reefside with Rocky. I couldn't give up karate completely. It's been a part of my life for too long," Tommy said, as Chase nodded his head. He understood what it was like, as he would never give up karate, unless he was forced to do so.

"Will some one please make that baby shut up?" A frustrated teenager asked, as Ernie watched Kim glare over at the boy and he could imagine exactly what she was thinking. She would love for Angie to settle down, but she was extremely fussy tonight and Kim really didn't know why.

"Uh hum," Tommy grunted to get the boys attention and he suddenly figured out that he was the father of the child. He didn't think it wise to say anymore.

"Yeah, I was going to warn you," Ernie said with a smile as the boy nodded in a way that suggested he would have liked the information a little bit earlier. "I know that it is annoying you, but give her a break. It's their first kid."

"Ernie, you're lucky I like you," the boy said, as Ernie laughed and then continued on his way.

"Come here," Tommy said, as he walked over and took Angie out of Kim's arms. He could see how frustrated she was and he didn't think that he wanted to let it go much longer. "Why are you so grumpy?"

"She can't talk to you Tommy," Kim said with a smile as Tommy walked Angie around the room and she began to calm down, which earned him another glare.

"I didn't ask her to not calm down for you," Tommy said, as he handed Angie back over to Kim and she began to wail again. He guessed that he was going to have to hold onto her for the rest of the night.

"Nice one, Tommy," Kim said, as he placed one arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You know we're going to walk down to the lake in a little while. Why don't you and Trini go get us all something to eat while we finish up?" Tommy suggested as Trini nodded that she was fine with that, she was getting hungry already, but she didn't want to admit it.

"All right, but I'm taking our car," Kim said, as Tommy nodded that was fine. He was not planning on arguing with her about anything right now. She didn't seem to be in the mood to listen to any of his reasoning.

"That is perfectly fine with me Kimberly," Tommy said, as Kim waved Trini over and Ernie looked at the two of them.

"Where are the two of you going?" Ernie asked as Kim looked back at him and then passed Trini the keys.

"We're going to go get a meal for all of us. Then we'll come back," Kim said, as Ernie understood. He had some of the best snack foods in the city, but he didn't have the meals that he used to have.

"I'm glad that you're coming back. I have something to talk to you about," Ernie said, as Kim looked at him and nodded that she understood what he was talking about, but she didn't really want to understand.

"When does Ernie ever have something to talk to us about?" Kim asked, as she hopped in her car and asked Trini that question, which surprised her as well.

"I don't know, Kim, but there are things that have changed around here. I think that Ernie realizes that maybe we need to hear something from him," Trini said, as Kim didn't quite understand what she might mean.

"Trini, please explain it," Kim said as she pulled out into the traffic and headed towards the nearest pizza parlor that she could find.

"He may want to tell us what he knows," Trini said, as Kim nearly slammed on the brakes, but stopped herself just in time.

"Trini, it's been a long time since we were rangers here," Kim said, as Trini nodded her head.

"And it has also been long enough that people won't question Ernie talking to us," Trini said and Kim nodded her head in agreement, she was just not sure that all of them would really be ready for this.

Back at the Juice Bar 

"Pizza, everybody," Kim said, as she entered with a few pizzas and a few teenage guys walked over to help her.

"Who are you?" Aaron asked, as Kim looked at the boy, wondering why in the world he would even ask.

"I'm one of the people on the walls and would you please put the pizzas on that table," Kim said as Tommy walked over and she could now see that Angie was asleep in his arms. "She finally gave up?"

"Yeah, she did. There was just too much new stuff here for her to see," Tommy said with a smile as Kim could only shake her head. "Did Ernie mention something to you about needing to talk to us?"

"Yeah, he did, Tommy. I don't think it's going to be anything to really worry about," Kim said and Ernie pointed all of them to the back room. He had never asked them to go back there before, but they understood that he might not want to be overheard.

"Listen, what I needed to talk to you about is that I wanted you to know that I know about you being rangers. Don't say anything. I'll answer all of your questions in a minute. Listen I'm sure that you are safe now, because you have come back here for a visit, but these are some articles that you may want to keep. And I happened to figure it out because when Kimberly left, you wore a pink watch for awhile Tommy. When the watch started beeping, it occurred to me that Kim had worn it and I knew you had to have not wanted to keep it, you had to. You were a ranger and trust me other clues were there, it just kinda fit for some reason then," Ernie said, as Kim and Tommy sat there with their mouth's hanging open.

"Thanks Ernie and we'll be out there in a little bit," Kim said as she stood up to give him a hug. They had nothing that they could think of that would make them happier than for Ernie to know. Now they honestly could say that they had someone that would help them keep the idiots away from them and he had been doing that job for years.

AN: It's not exactly the best ending to the chapter, but I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next one out within the next week.


	28. Continuing On With Life

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Life_

The weeks passed peacefully, as the rangers' waited, ready to battle any monster that appeared, but none did for once in their lives. It seemed that it was almost too good to be true, but every time that their spine tingled, it was not from an evildoer. It was much more likely to be from a friend that was sneaking up behind them and that was a true relief for them.

Their lives truly seemed too not be the same as they were a mere three months before and it now seemed as if it was time to release themselves from their duty. Graduation had already come and gone for some of the rangers and that meant they were moving on with their lives and finding a new path that went away from being rangers. It was time, all of them agreed, to give up their powers, willingly and hope that they withdrawal would not be as painful as it had been before, although that was only a hope.

"Tommy," Kim said, as she walked into the dojo, carrying Angie in her car seat.

This weekend was a big one, for all of them. Angie was going to go stay with the Oliver's and they were giving away their powers, at least that was what they were calling it. It just seemed as if it was time to move on and they were fairly certain that they would not have to worry about any other creature showing up, not at least for a long time.

By that time, they might have found someone to do a sufficient job replacing them, all of them. The teenagers wanted to get out just as bad and they did not blame them. They had seen one of the worst ranger battles in history and no one really wanted to come back to work after seeing something like that. They had their one and only chance now and they were going to take it, under the pretense that they might have to come back. It seemed crazy, but they knew that if no one else was willing to save the Earth, then it was their job. It was a responsibility that no ranger took lightly.

"Hey," Tommy said, excusing himself from his class for a few seconds. He knew that he needed to talk to her and his mind was racing in a way that it had not done in months. His body's timing was wonderful and horrible, but he was going to try to be good for a few more minutes, at the absolute least. He knew that he would be able to control himself that long and he definitely did not want his students to start asking questions that they had asked after they got married. That was a type of embarrassment he couldn't stand. "I thought you would be headed towards Angel Grove already."

"Change of plans. Your dad called and he said he'd meet me here. They wanted to talk to you for a little while before they go. Just to check up on some things," Kim said, as Angie reached up towards Tommy, but she was still buckled into her car seat and could not get to him. That made her let out a small cry, as she was not happy at being pinned in and not able to get to her daddy. It always bothered her to not be able to get out and to one of them. They had both debated whether or not she was going to stay that way as she got older, but only time would tell how that would work out. "Daddy's got to work, Angie."

"You're one to talk," Tommy said, as he reached down to tickle her and then stood up to look at Kim, trying to block out his thoughts. He was way too emotional today and he knew that he had not been this way in months. He just hoped that she would not pick up on it, for a little while. "Hey, you want to go out somewhere tonight? We don't have anything to worry about until tomorrow."

"We'll talk about it once you are done with class," Kim said with a smile, as he knew that meant yes, but he also knew that he had to finish teaching his class. If he didn't do that, he would never get a chance to be alone with her. "Go."

"I see that you are still able to get to him," Rocky muttered as he walked up next to Kim and she reached over to give him a hug, as Angie let out another cry and Kim then squatted down to removed her from her car seat. She did not want her to be hysterical when the Oliver's showed up to pick her up. That was certainly not the impression that she wanted to leave them with. They had told them if it got to be too much they would watch after her for awhile and if she was particularly fussy, then they might think that they had not kept their word to them about the situation. "How have you been?"

"Good, just too busy. I'm sorry I haven't made it in more. Ally has to be swamped with all of those girls," Kim said, as Angie began making bubbles with her mouth and Kim couldn't help but laugh, even if it was trickling down on her shirt.

"It's alright, you have someone that is a little bit more important," Rocky said, as he tickled Angie and she squirmed in Kim's arms. He looked around to make sure that no one was listening and then bent closer to Kim. He really had been wondering about some things and he decided now was as good of a time as any to ask. "Hey, you back to normal, since that coin went crazy?"

"Yeah, it was just so weird Rocky. It is as if I know that I will always be protected, even if things don't go well and what Zordon said to us there does help, a little bit. It makes sense, but it does make you wonder what he was talking about," Kim said as Tommy walked off the mats and back over to her. She had showed up when he had only had five minutes left with his class and he didn't think they would mind getting off early. He had managed to work their asses off today and he knew that they deserved a little bit of rest. They just didn't know how lucky they had been, as he had been planning to make them stay late, but Kim made him do odd things.

He was not planning on them having a lesson tomorrow, but because they seemed so intent to have one, he was going to try. He knew that it was not really wise to do so, but Kim had a gymnastics lesson as well and that would leave the both of them in the same boat. He just wondered how Ashley and Charlie were going to take it. They were not as good at making up excuses about why they were particularly weak, but Tommy would try to protect them while they were in the dojo. They would just have to let him do that, as they were extremely stubborn sometimes.

"Do you mind if I shower off before we go?" Tommy asked, as he knew that he didn't exactly smell great because of his karate clothes and the fact that he had taught four classes today.

"No, but your parents should be here soon. So, will you please hurry? I don't want them to come all this way and not get to talk to their son," Kim said, as Angie reached for Tommy and he took her out of Kim's arms, even if it was only going to be for a few seconds.

"Hey, I'm going to miss you," Tommy whispered in Angie's ear as he inhaled her baby smell and then passed her back over to Kim and made a quick exit. He had to hurry or he would miss his parents and he didn't want them to be mad at him if he made them wait. They were not very patient, knowing how the traffic had probably been, and he had to rely on them a lot right now. They might be keeping Angie for a couple of days, until they were close to normal. "Don't let them leave without me saying good-bye."

"Okay," Kim said, as Ashley walked over to her and smiled. "Hey, you doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit worried," Ashley said, as she had heard about what it was like to have powers taken away and it scared her.

She did not want to go through the living hell of losing her powers. She had heard the horror stories from Kira and Conner, as they watched Kim and Tommy have theirs taken away, once before. She just didn't know if she could take it. She did not think that she was as strong as they were.

"I promise that it'll be alright. We'll be there and we'll help each other through it," Kim said, as Angie grabbed Kim's hair and pulled on it with all her might, which didn't surprise her. It was now one of Angie's favorite things to do to her and it continued to pain her to no end. She had not thought that pulling on someone's hair would hurt so badly, but it certainly did. "Angie! Come on, let go of my hair."

"Strong, isn't she?" Tommy asked, as he walked up behind her and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice in her ear. He couldn't help but laugh, while Kim tried to glare at him, but she couldn't turn around to face him properly, as Angie had a tight grip on her hair and it did not seem as if she was going to let go of her hair any time soon. "I'll get her hands out."

"Thank you," Kim said, as she placed a hand in her hair, seeing how much Angie had loosened from her scalp.

"Uh-uh, no more pulling Mommy's hair out," Tommy said, taking Angie out of Kim's arms as he saw his parents enter the dojo. They seemed to be in a good mood and he could only hope that was a good sign for them. "She does enough of that on her own."

"Hey," Kim said, ignoring Tommy's comment, as Martha gave her a hug and she looked over to see that Angie had grabbed Tommy's hair and he was trying to pull away from her, without hurting her. She couldn't wrap her hands around his hair, but she was still sure that it hurt, to some degree. "Angie, you have to stop."

"She will. It just takes them some time to grow out of it," Martha said, as she could remember Tommy pulling on her hair when he was the same age. It seemed that that trait ran in the family, although she did not feel like mentioning that to Tommy at the moment. He probably would not take to that idea very well. "We better get on the road. We'll bring her back Sunday night and don't worry; we'll call if things get out of hand. The two of you need to be careful and call us if you need more time. You both need to be on your feet after this happens before we bring her back, understand?"

"Alright, Mom. If we need you to keep her longer we'll call," Tommy said giving Angie a hug and then passing her to Kim, so that she could give her a hug. They watched the three of them walk out of the dojo and then Kim turned around to look at Tommy. They both were happy to have this time alone, even if it did mean that Angie was spending the weekend with her grandparents. "We get to be alone."

"Get a room," Rocky said, as Tommy gave Kim a kiss and then she buried her face in his chest and he smiled down at her, although he knew that she was a little bit embarrassed. It was just wonderful for the two of them to be alone, for the first weekend in a long time. Rocky could just deal with a tiny bit of PDA for all he cared.

"Take out?" Tommy asked, as he picked Kim up and she couldn't help but laugh at him, while Rocky muttered that he would close up. Tommy didn't seem to be leaving him much of an option about that and he knew it was just best to say what he'd do. That way Tommy wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night and run to the dojo to make sure it was locked up. "Come on, it's been a long time, sweetie."

"Tommy!" Kim yelled in surprise as she looked into his eyes and she could clearly see that he only had one thing on his mind right now. "Tommy, can you wait until after we get something to eat? I promise I'll make it worth your wait."

"I don't know if I have that much patience," Tommy said, very quietly, as he sat her down on the hood of her car and looked down at her. He didn't know why today had been the day that he felt like this, as there were other times when it would have been more convenient, but he couldn't help it.

"Please, I didn't eat lunch today," Kim said, as he placed both of his arms around her shoulders and placed his forehead even with hers. He knew that he was going to have to agree to that one. He never liked when she didn't eat a meal, as it had led to some odd experiences in the past and he was going to have to concede to her request.

"Alright," Tommy, begrudgingly, said, as she looked into his eyes and silently thanked him. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere," Kim said, as she stood up to get in her car, but he had her trapped against it. "Tommy, what else do you want?"

"Let's ride together," Tommy said simply, as he took a step back and realized that she had been standing on his feet. "Sorry about that."

"You know that you are acting crazy, don't you?" Kim asked, as she climbed into his jeep and looked over at him. She had seen him act like this before, but it was usually only when they had been separated from each other for a long time. They had been around each other all week and she didn't understand why he was being like this tonight.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Tommy said, looking at the steering wheel as he was at a loss for words. He couldn't really describe what he felt and he didn't want to make a complete fool out of himself trying to do so.

"Hey, it's alright. Just drive us to whatever restaurant you want to go to. I just need something to eat," Kim said, placing her hand on his knee and then gently squeezing it before she placed her arm back on the console.

"Don't make this any harder," Tommy said, as Kim smiled and she knew that she was getting to him, on some level.

"What did I do?" Kim asked, innocently, as Tommy put every bit of his will power into watching the road and navigating them to a buffet restaurant, just outside of town. He stayed quiet on the rest of their trip to the restaurant and even through most of their supper, trying to restrain himself, in some way. "Why so quiet?"

"Kim, I'm trying to be good," Tommy said, as she smiled at him and then asked for the check without another word between the two of them. He had been forced to be patient for far too long and he was nearly at his breaking point and she understood that she did not need to push him any further. "Thank you."

"I know when you are getting to your breaking point, Tommy," Kim said with a smile as he quickly paid the tab and stood up to leave the restaurant. She enjoyed watching him walk away with a sense of urgency, but he would never admit that he felt this way to anyone but her. They thought he walked like that all the time, but she could tell when he truly felt something was urgent.

"Come on," Tommy said, as he held out his hand to her and she took it without much hesitation. "Thank you so much. You have no clue what it means to me."

"I think that I could figure it out, Tommy," Kim said, as he looked at her and then started up his jeep. "Now, lets see. Jason and Trini will probably arrive the earliest tomorrow, after Billy and Hayley of course, so I guess that we should be ready by about six o'clock."

"Kim, I don't care," Tommy said, as she looked at him and he thought that he might want to take his statement back, but he knew that he couldn't do that right now. It was already too late.

"Just drive home, Tommy," Kim said with a smile and she noticed that he seemed press the accelerator to the floor even more than he had been a few seconds before. When they arrived at home, Tommy tried to calm himself down for a few seconds, but he knew that it was almost useless right now. His mind was miles away from his body and it was starting to take over everything.

"I love you," Tommy said, as he gave her a kiss, right after locking the front door. Kim happily accepted this gesture and grabbed for the fabric of his shirt, knowing where this would all lead them. She had been just as deprived as him lately and right now she felt as if they would get their wish without being disturbed by a thing in the world.

Then the telephone began to ring, as they headed up the stairs. Tommy tried to ignore it and actually succeeded at doing so until Kim pulled away from him and tried to make her way to the phone. He was refusing to let go of her. Why did she have to answer the phone?

"Kim, ignore it," Tommy pleaded as she looked at him and then pulled his hands off of her with a firm gentleness. She knew that it could be no one on the other end of the phone, but she wanted to make sure that it was not the Oliver's. She didn't want them to be picturing something horrible happening to them.

"Hello," Kim said, answering the telephone as normally as possible, but she could hear the person on the other end giggle. She was going to kill whomever it was, as she knew it was not Mr. or Mrs. Oliver.

"Is Dr. Oliver there?" a voice asked, as Kim stared down at the phone and then passed it to Tommy, who had no clue who it could possibly be that was calling him. He had made it perfectly clear to most people that knew him that he did not want anyone to call him tonight, obviously someone had not listened.

"Hello," Tommy said in an aggravated tone and he then heard a giggle and hung up the phone, stupid students.

AN: I wanted to give you a little taste of Tommy and Kim's life on a semi-normal day after their ranger work was over. I know it is a short chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed it.


	29. Giving Up the Powers

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster. I do not own Katie Couric; she is being used here as a well-known newscaster for effect.

_This type of writing indicates a dream._

Now, on with the Story!

_Keeping Up With the Oliver's_

_"Well, I always knew that my son led a rather odd life. I mean, it would take a fool to not notice everything that happened around my house some evenings when he was a teenager. I just didn't know what it was until a few months ago, after his first child was born," Martha Oliver said, as Katie Couric leaned in, interested to hear all of this newfound information about some people that no one truly knew about. _

_When she had first gotten the letter on her desk saying that she was going to be interviewing the mother of a Power Ranger, she had thought it was a joke. She had heard about all of the odd occurrences that had happened in Angel Grove and now Reefside, but she had never believed in the Power Rangers. They were merely a figment of these poor, people's imagination, but now she had proof and was going to break the story of the decade. These people deserved to be famous and she wanted to make sure that their story was told, even if they were not the ones telling it to the world. _

"_Well, what happened to be so odd about your son? In this picture, he seems normal enough with his wife and daughter," Katie said, as she picked up the picture and held it so that the cameraman could focus in on it. They would be sure to edit the picture in with a close view later. It was important to show that these people seemed normal, but they were not. They merely were very good actors and had been for years, it was a miracle no one had found out about them sooner. _

"_At first, he would just be late for curfew, not very late, just a few minutes late every night. The first few times it happened, we didn't do anything. He was not and is not a bad boy, we just thought that he was being forgetful, which he truly is forgetful, bless his soul. I think he would forget his head sometimes if it wasn't attached. His forgetfulness just seemed to be aggravated after we moved to Angel Grove. I guess that was when he first became one, but neither of us knew about it. We never asked about it. I mean, we thought it was a possibility, but he was not getting in trouble at school and he was keeping up his grades, so we thought it was just some minor teenage mischief. If I had only known the magnitude of what he was doing, he would have never gotten in trouble," Martha said, as she looked around the room. _

_There were signs of her son here, everywhere and she wondered what Tommy was going to do when he found out that she had sold them out to the press. He had kept it a secret for so long, but it was time that people knew who the rangers were and that they were not a mere myth. She did not want her son's memory to be turned into a legend years down the road._

"_What, exactly, did he become Mrs. Oliver? You were not very clear about what he is," Katie said, as she twirled her glasses between her thumb and index finger. To get a parent to admit this was a tough feat, but she seemed willing enough, so she hoped it would not take more prodding to get the answer out of her._

"_He became a Power Ranger," Martha said, as Katie nodded her head and looked over at the cameraman. The woman was serious and she imagined that she had some evidence to help support her theory. This was certainly going to be a story worthy of reporting on several broadcasts. _

"No!" Tommy yelled out, as he bolted out of his sleep and found himself sitting upright, revealing his bare chest to the cooler air, which made him unconsciously gasp.

He had had dreams about people finding out that he was a ranger, but it had never been one where the whole nation found out who and what he was in one interview that his mother gave. The sooner he got rid of his powers, the better, maybe he would finally be able to get a peaceful nights sleep with Kim at his side. Her nightmares had subsided, but his own were starting to take over their nights and he hated it.

"Tommy, lay back down," Kim said, as she reached up to grab his arm and realized that he was not going to lay back down, without some more reassurances from her. She was now freezing because of him moving away so quickly, but he seemed to be alarmed by whatever had jerked him out of his sleep. "What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," Tommy said, as Kim sat up and held the cover up over herself in an attempt to warm herself up. She couldn't help but smile at him for the childish way that he had formed that statement. He, however, seemed horrified by the dream and she knew that she needed to take him seriously, for a few seconds. They could laugh about how stupid the dream was later.

"What happened in the dream?" Kim asked, as she was curious about it.

He didn't have bad dreams that often and she just hoped it was something stupid, that it was not some sort of evil being tampering with his dreams. They were going to let go of their powers, no matter what else was going on in the universe. They had to retire now and they were trying to make a point of it to everyone who could understand why they wanted to get out of it.

"My mom told the world that I was a Power Ranger. Katie Couric interviewed her and everything," Tommy said, as he looked over at Kim, who was surprisingly silent about the situation. She didn't know what to say to make him feel better, but she could try to reassure him, somehow. It was not the first time that he had dreamed something like that, only this was on a far bigger scale than normal. Usually it was just that he yelled it out in class or something, but his mom doing an interview was definitely a new type of dream for him to be having. "It's a stupid dream, Kim. You know how it is to have dreams that our identity is revealed."

"It's not a stupid dream, Tommy. I know that it has always worried you that people will find out who you are and come after you," Kim said slipping her arm around him and feeling him rest his head on her shoulder. He rarely had something frighten him like this, but when he did have something go wrong, even if it was only in his dreams, he could worry about it for days on end. He had had his dreams become reality before and he did not want that to happen to him again. Their identity was the one thing that they protected to no end, they'd sacrifice almost anything, except that. "Listen, it's five o'clock. The alarm is going to go off in thirty minutes, I'm going to go ahead and take a shower."

"Kim," Tommy said, as she moved away from him on the bed and headed towards the bathroom. He didn't want her to leave so soon, but he was not sure that he should express his displeasure right now. She had, after all, woken up when he yelled out in his dreams, which was something she had not done the previous week because Angie had been sick all day.

"Well, I didn't say that you had to join me," Kim said, with a sly smile, as Tommy rolled out of bed and followed her. They knew that the others wouldn't be here for a couple of hours and that gave them plenty of time to be alone.

_Later_

"Ow!" Charlie yelled, as he banged his head against the door of the Command Center, while trying to avoid it. He had the absolute worst luck at this and if his luck continued in this fashion, he was going to have walloped himself unconscious soon.

"Poor Charlie," Ashley said, with grin as she saw him rubbing his head and giving her a mock-glare. Neither was surprised that they were the last to arrive today. They did not want to let go of their powers, but it seemed that choice had already been made for them. All of the powers had to go or there might be worse fates to deal with than just some minor nausea.

"Alright, rangers. I know that none of you are looking forward to losing your powers, but it has to be done. Hand over your morphers and I will begin breaking the bond they have with you. It will be painful," Alpha said as they handed in their morphers, rather obediently and he then thought that some warnings might need to be given out. The older rangers knew the affects, but the younger ones seemed to think they would still be able to stand at the end of this. "You may wish to sit down."

"And grab a garbage bag," Jason said.

"And some Midol," Kim said, as several of the inexperience laughed, but the others readily accepted the box of medicine. It seemed to be the only thing that could even begin to curb the pain and it didn't do that good of a job. They were sure that prescription drugs would do much better, but none of them could get a prescription for morphine.

"And as much beer as you can…sorry that's only us," Zack said, as they all laughed. They felt sorry for those who did not understand what the pain was going to be like, but it was about to be proved to them that they were serious about everything that they had said.

"So we have no relief?" Conner asked as Tommy looked over at him. He must have thought that they were joking about the Midol helping, but they were about to find out that it helped them a lot.

"I have plenty of Midol for everyone," Kim said as Conner, Trent, Ethan, and Charlie exchanged a glance. There was absolutely no way that they were going to take Midol, no matter how bad they were hurting.

"No thanks," Charlie said nicely as the other males simply shook their heads as they each popped two of the pills. They had had to drop the macho bravado that surrounded them as rangers, this was painful, and they didn't care what they took, as long as it made them feel better.

"To each their own," Adam said as Alpha began the de-bonding process. It was not going to take that long, compared to what some of the others had been through, but it was going to leave them completely drained and with more side effects than they could comfortably manage to deal with.

"You all right?" Tommy whispered as Kim reached over to grab his hand and slowly closed her eyes. She knew that it was not wise for her to drink alcohol right now, but she might have to resort to that, in order to dull the pain she was feeling.

"Tommy, you know what it is like. Just be quiet about all of it, my head is killing me," Kim said, as Jason grabbed a garbage bag and threw up. They were beginning to have the symptoms that the withdrawal was working. It was going to get much worse, before it got better though.

"Jason, you are completely de-bonded," Alpha said, as Jason curled up in a ball on the floor. He knew that his body was telling him not to move or he would be sick again, but that did not last very long. He was in too much pain to stay in that position.

"Jason, can you move?" Trini asked, as he shook his head no. He was afraid to open his mouth, as it would betray exactly how his insides were feeling.

"Tommy," Kim muttered, as she gave into temptation and leaned over on him. He simply placed both of his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. How in the world were they going to teach their advanced classes today? They should have cancelled the classes yesterday, when they were still thinking clearly.

"I know, just try to ignore it," Tommy whispered, as some of the younger rangers looked at him in shock. How in the world could you try to ignore the pain that was going on right now? Conner had already grabbed his own garbage bag and he was following Jason's example. It was not a pretty sight to behold by any means.

"How?" Ashley asked as Kim threw here the box of Midol. Kim knew that if they hurt badly enough, all of them would take it. The guys agreed with her thinking to, but they just didn't know enough about what was going to happen to them to understand it at first.

"Take that and then you need to just lay down and hope it won't be too bad. The really bad symptoms will wear off overnight," Zack said, as Alpha nodded to him that he was done. Now, he just had to try to stand up. That was going to be a problem, it had always been for him when he lost his powers. His side effect was the complete loss of equilibrium. The others seemed to suffer from the less pleasant symptoms, but at least they were able to walk around on their own.

"Maybe that is the truth for you, but it is worse for me in the morning," Kim said as she knew she would steadily decline into the night and then wake up and throw up for half the day. Then the only effect she still felt was the power being gone, that was something that she never seemed to become completely accustomed to.

"Kim, you're free," Alpha said as Kim nodded her head and then she put both of her arms around Tommy. She'd have to wait until he could move around because she did not trust herself to stand on her own right now. Her ability to move at all was a real question to her.

"If you are going to be sick, tell me," Kim said, as Tommy nodded his head. He rarely got sick from power withdrawal. He usually suffered from severe sleepiness and was irritated by all of those around him. Other than those things, he was perfectly fine.

"Dino rangers you are free," Alpha said, as they nodded and they all tried to stand. Charlie and Ashley were the only ones that even managed to stay on their feet, but they were extremely weak in their own right.

"Alpha, we have got to find someway to make this easier," Tommy said, as he felt Kim shaking in his arms. He realized that it was freezing down here, but all of them were sweating due to the physical challenge of having the powers taken away.

"I wish that there was an easier way, Tommy," Alpha said, as Trini walked over to Jason and he placed his hand on hers and tugged her down to the floor. He then placed his head in her lap and held her as close to him as he could.

"I'm sorry, Jase," Trini said, as he looked up at her and then he looked towards the stairs. He felt that he might be able to try to walk up them. It was going to take him awhile and he didn't know how much he should lean on Trini right now.

"Can you help me up the stairs?" Jason asked and Trini shook her head yes. She'd try to help him as much as she could, but she didn't know how many more times she could stand to see him throw up.

"Tommy, you're done," Alpha said, as Tommy gently placed a kiss on Kim's forehead. She then muttered something to him and he merely nodded.

"Alpha, we'll be upstairs, just yell up to us when you want us to close the door," Tommy said, as he stood up and picked Kimberly up off the ground. He could walk around, but his head was throbbing and all he wanted was some peace and quiet upstairs for the next couple of days.

"I'll do that, Tommy," Alpha said, as Kimberly placed a hand over her mouth and forced the throw up back down her throat with a look of the utmost disgust.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to the bathroom," Tommy said with a smile as Kim merely looked at him with a severe glare and she had many retorts wanting to get out, but she couldn't do that for fear that she would throw up.

"How are we going to work tonight?" Kim muttered as Tommy looked down at her with wide eyes. He had completely forgotten about the classes that they had scheduled for later on today and right now he didn't even think he'd be able to drive to the dojo.

"We'll figure it out," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head. That was about all that she could manage and he just hoped that they would both be able to recuperate as quickly as they were going to have to today.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, I know that I just kinda cut it off at the end, but I think that the next chapter will make up for it, I'll definitely try to make it do that! Thanks a lot for reading!


	30. After the Loss

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Charlie and Ashley managed to leave Dr. Oliver's house about an hour after their powers had been destroyed, but after fumbling with the keys to Charlie's car in the driveway for quite some time. Neither of them had the dexterity that they had become accustomed to over the last few months that they had spent as rangers. That, however, was the least of their worries, from what they could feel sinking into them.

They, however, were not heading straight home after their power drainage, they were not sure they could stand that yet. They felt it necessary to enjoy themselves while their body felt as if they were going through a physical hell like none other they had ever experienced before and they hoped that they would never experience it again. Tommy and Kim had definitely downplayed how bad this felt, but they had heard that the other powers were much worse to lose and they both were dreading class this afternoon. Neither Kim nor Tommy were going to be in a good mood, from what they could tell from their own experience.

"You enjoying that?" Charlie asked as Ashley slurped on a milkshake they had bought on their way to this spot in the park.

They had grow accustomed to coming here any time they needed to relax, although some people were giving them odd looks for being out here today. They were sure that they looked as bad as they felt right now, but they didn't really care about that anymore. They were just happy to be in the park and for it to be peaceful.

If they were to go home there parents would surely send them to the doctor and that was not a wise thing to have happen. No doctor could cure them; they wouldn't have a clue as to what they were suffering from. They were almost sure that they would also be kept in the hospital for a long time, as they tried to figure out the problem, which would not make them any happier when they finally felt normal again.

"Yeah, thanks," Ashley said, as Charlie looked up at her as if she didn't need to say that to him. He was just glad that she was sitting in the swing behind him, as he was finally comfortable. It had taken them much longer than usual to settle down and become comfortable, but they really had expected that to happen.

"I didn't know that it was this bad," Charlie said, as he rubbed his temple. He had had one hangover in his life so far and this was at least ten times worse than the pain that he could remember being in then.

"Neither did I, but they were honest with us. They didn't try to predict how we would react to it all ," Ashley said as Charlie leaned over against her knee.

He was tired, but he felt that they needed to talk about what had happened to them earlier today. They knew that this was the last time that they should really talk about it at all, but they were both sure that it would come up many more times between the two of them. They just wished they could have been useful for longer than a couple of days.

"I don't understand how they did this so many times before now. They must know what it is going to do to them when it all ends. We didn't have a clue as to what was going to happen to us and I guess that makes it easier, in some twisted way," Charlie said, as he could imagine maybe going through this one more time if he had to. It seemed that Kim and Tommy had simply lost count of how many times they had gone through this very same pain for the exact same reason.

"Charlie that is not for us to worry about, now we have a class to attend in a few minutes. We better be heading to the dojo, I don't imagine that Dr. O is going to be in a very good mood after his day. We don't need to give him any excuse to yell at us ," Ashley said, as she stood up, rather unsteadily. She could only hope that Dr. O would take it easy on them today. He knew how they were feeling and he would surely take that into account, on some level. She just didn't know what level that might happen to be right now.

_Dojo_

"Melody, a back-handspring, not a back tuck. You are not able to connect the next element as smoothly if you insist on doing that combination," Kim said, stepping up to the side of the beam and placing her hands on it, to try to calm herself down, somehow.

If she had to climb on that beam today, Tommy would possibly snatch her off it because of the memories it would bring back to him and then the two of them would get into a fight, which was something she didn't really need right now. They both needed to be level headed when they went home tonight, because it would only get worse for them overnight and then they would have to face the morning, which was something they were not sure they could really handle.

Ally was having to take care of Rocky, who was suffering from severe nausea, among other things. This was definitely the worst withdrawal that Rocky had ever been through and Kim didn't blame her for going to be with him, but now she was faced with having to possibly perform a skill that she had not done, even under normal circumstances, in months.

"But you can do it. Why can't I?" Melody asked, as Kim glared up at her. She did not want her to hop up on that beam right now, as she was likely to knock her straight through the nearest wall.

"Melody, it does not matter that I can do it or that Ally is able to do it either. You are the one on that beam being judged and that back tuck is far too shaky for you risk it right now. Keep on practicing and it may get there before next month's competition. Right now, I suggest that you stick with what you know you can do. Your back-handspring," Kim said, trying to control her anger.

Melody noticed that Kim's eyes seemed to be glowing an odd shade of pink, which was something she was sure that was not natural, but it had to be the light playing with her eyes or something like that. Her eyes couldn't really be glowing pink.

She was not sure that she wanted to continue to push her luck with all of it, although she felt that she had mastered the skill very well. Tommy didn't seem to be in a good mood either, which didn't help her any. Usually the two of them balanced each other out, but today the both of them were on the rampage. Why? She didn't know and she was not about to try to find out.

"Yes, Mrs. Oliver," Melody said mounting the balance beam as Kim walked over to another student, who did not grate on her nerves as much. If she did not blow up today it would be some sort of miracle and Tommy did not look much better to her. They both felt like shit and they were thankful that the Oliver's had Angie for the weekend. They would not be able to move tonight, but they had known this would be coming for far too long. That was why they had taken the precaution of sening Angie to Angel Grove.

"Dr. O, you all right?" Jackson asked, as Tommy nodded his head and then continued to the front of the room. He was about to give them the easiest class they had had in ages, if they would only let him be nice.

"Yes, I'm fine, Jackson. Just let me be today," Tommy said as Ashley and Charlie walked in looking exhausted, but knowing that they were supposed to act as if nothing had happened. That was much easier said than done and they could see that Kim and Tommy were even struggling with that concept today. They were known for camouflaging after an attack, but now was when it seemed they were most susceptible to someone figuring out who they might be.

"What's with him?" Jackson asked Charlie as he shrugged his shoulders and settled in for class. He just prayed none of the other symptoms would show up during this class or it would be much worse on all of them.

"Just do what he says," Charlie said, as Jackson looked at him and he thought that it was best to ignore how odd things were right now, even Mrs. Oliver was not in a good mood. She had blessed out half of her gymnastics class already and he felt that Dr. Oliver's class might not fair much better if they were to not pick up on his bad mood.

At least Charlie and Ashley seemed to not be in the mood to try to do anything to Dr. O, as they were the ones that would make him mad and he laugh about it. The rest of them could just piss him off, but he felt a certain level of friendship towards all of them, even if they didn't know it.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of secret language? He basically told me the same thing when he walked by," Jackson said and Charlie looked at him. He had the feeling that Charlie was in the same mood that Dr. O was in and he didn't know what that would mean for him. It seemed absolutely crazy that the two of them would have something in common in their lives that would effect them like this.

"Trust us, Jackson and do exactly what he says. It'll save you a lot of trouble in the long run ," Ashley said with a weak smile, as Tommy stepped to the front of the class and looked out as his advanced students.

That was when he felt the first urge to throw up everything he had eaten over the last few hours and he had to try to figure out some way to get himself out of this class. He didn't like to do this, but he had the feeling none of them would want to see his lunch.

"Class, I'm sorry, but today I just can't have practice. We'll try to make it up sometime next week. I'll call you and let you know," Tommy said, as they all looked confused, but did not ask him why. He immediately headed towards the locker room, as Kim peered over at him while Melody packed up her things to leave. She was sure that he had not planned on dismissing his class, but that still did not explain to her what was going on. He had not been that obvious.

"Tommy, where are you?" Kim asked, as she walked into the locker room several minutes later and heard him, well before she saw him sitting on the floorin front of thetoilet . She usually was the one that suffered from stomach ailments, but it seemed that Tommy was the unlucky one to have that problem today. "Oh, Tommy."

"Don't say anything about it, I already feel horrible enough as it is," Tommy managed to murmur, as Kim walked back over to the cabinet and grabbed a towel to wet. She had to feeling that it was going to be quite awhile before they were able to go anywhere at all, namely because of the fact that Tommy would probably insist on driving, due to her gettng sick on the way to the dojo this afternoon, although she felt fine now. Well, as good as someone could feel after having their powers taken away.

_Hayley's Cyberspace_

"The two of you look like you've had the easy way out this afternoon. I just Tommy didn't work you too hard today ," Hayley said with a smile as Charlie and Ashley took two seats at the bar.

Although Hayley had been there this morning, she did not have the slightest idea what they were going through. She knew Billy was staying at home this afternoon, but that just seemed to be more of a precaution. Billy had been fine when she had left him there this morning.

"Dr. O was not too keen to have class. He seemed to be a little bit out of it ," Ashley said as Hayley nodded her head while Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kira came to sit down at the bar as well.

"Fun day, isn't it?" Conner said, as he laid his head down on the bar to try to block out the light, which seemed to be giving him a headache.

"Here you go Conner, drink up. It'll make you feel better," Hayley said with a smile as she passed him a chocolate shake, which was always his favorite and from what she could tell he had not been having any stomach ailments. His was more mental, than anything else.

"Thanks, Hayley," Conner said weakly as he slurped on the shake in silence.

"What are the six of you doing here?" Cassidy asked as Kira turned around and let out a huge sigh. She had no patience for any questions today, but they couldn't risk their hidden identity going away now.

"We came to get a milkshake. The last time I checked that was not a crime," Kira said, as sweetly as she could manage before turning back to Hayley. She could only hope Cassidy would get the point.

"This is an odd assortment of people, you might say," Cassidy said, as Ethan now turned to face her.

"We've been friends for a long time, Cassidy. It shouldn't be odd to anyone anymore," Ethan said, as Cassidy just stared. He was right that they had been friends for a long time, but they had never quite looked like this before.

"Why are you all so tired?" Cassidy asked, as it was Ashley's turn to turn around and try to talk some sense into the not so observant Cassidy.

"We all had a late night, okay?" Ashley asked, while Cassidy just nodded her head. It was rare for Ashley and Charlie to talk to her at all and she constantly picked at the others, but those two seemed to show more restrain, although she had obviously pushed them today, for some reason.

"Okay," Cassidy said, rather uncomfortably, as she turned to leave Hayley's sure that this was for her own best interest today.

"We aren't going to be able to do that many more times," Charlie said with a laugh, as the other joined in. As much of a nuisance as Cassidy happened to be, they always enjoyed poking fun at her when they had the chance.

"No, you aren't. Your life has changed now," Hayley said solemnly, as they sat there. They didn't want to think about that, but now it was forced into their minds.

No matter what they wanted to think, their lives had really been changed, by this experience, by this life they chosen to lead when they agreed to become rangers . They all knew that if they were asked to be rangers again, they would come running for the chance to suit up again. They were forever going to be known as a group of Power Rangers, to the select few that also were rangers, but that was fine with them. Some had not served as long as others, some had made names for themselves, but from this day forward, they were only known as the Dino Rangers. They were no longer those rangers and their lives would reflect that, in every way that they could imagine.

AN: This is going to be the last time that these rangers will be seen in this series and I thought it would be nice to give them a sort of send off. This is not the end of the story, but I hope to finish it up for all of you this week. Feel free to review, the good and the bad.


	31. Goodbye Alpha, Goodbye

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Good-Bye Alpha_

_Alpha's POV_

I have been here in this place for over two years and I now feel as if my work here is done, I have finally finished my work with these rangers. I was fulfilling the duty that Zordon asked me to fulfill years ago, before any of us knew what was going to happen to all of them and what danger they were going to be in. I do not know how they will take my leaving, but it is time for me to go back to the Space Rangers. There are many more things I can work on there and I can monitor them, in case I ever have to come back, which is something that I do not wish to do, because that would mean that they were being attacked again.

"Alpha, where are you going?" Tommy asked as he walked down into the Command Center and saw that Alpha held his metal suitcase in his hand. This did not look good for all of them and he did not think that Kim was going to be happy to see what was going on downstairs, if she came down there at all. They had recovered from their drainage, but they still were not completely ready to let go of Alpha, because that was one step closer to changing everything else about their lives that they had had there for so many years.

"Back to the Space Rangers. You will have to hide this place from Angie, very soon. Since you have managed to defeat Mesogogg and Lord Zedd. You can always contact me, if it is necessary," Alpha said, as Kim walked down the stairs and gave Alpha the look that Tommy had only a few seconds before. They did not seem to be happy about this, but he was doing this out of necessity and they would thank him for it, someday. It was much easier for him to leave now, instead of waiting for them to become more attached than they already were to him and he didn't want to give Angie that chance. He knew what it would do to them if she cried because he left.

"Alpha, come on. What if something happens in the next few weeks? What if we can't figure out how to shut down the Command Center? Why would you leave so soon?" Tommy asked, as Kim got the picture and she, momentarily, forgot of the real reason that she came down here to talk to him. She did not want for Alpha to leave them so soon, but she couldn't think of anything to say to possibly stop him.

"Tommy there is much that you do not know about the rangers and Zordon. I am not leaving you to try to answer those questions on your own. There is a box of videos in the storage closet. Watch them at your leisure, but remember that you need to know the information inside of them. It will explain much more to you than I ever could," Alpha said, as he reached towards the teleportation module. He did not like long good-byes and he hoped that they would understand it, once they had watched the videos. "Good-bye."

"Bye, Alpha," Tommy managed to say, as Kim stared at the spot where Alpha had been seconds before and then looked over at Tommy, hoping that he would not confirm what she had seen, but he merely shook his head yes. It was then that she remembered the crying baby upstairs and asked Tommy the question that had been on her mind when she walked down the stairs.

"Tommy, did you buy any formula the other day?" Kim asked, as she had briefly searched the kitchen, but she had not found any. She did breast feed Angie some, but she had thought that she was going to be leaving the house soon. That plan, however, had just been changed for her. She had to see those videos, now. She couldn't just leave with this type of information dangling in front of her for her to find out.

"No, sorry, I didn't think about it," Tommy said, as he went towards the storage closet and opened the door, thinking he would have to search the closet for the videos. He didn't have to do that; Alpha had left the trunk right inside of the room. He must have known that they would go to watch it right after he left them and was making it easier on them. "You coming back down here?"

"Yeah, just give me a few seconds to get Angie and settle her down some," Kim said, as Tommy began digging through the videos to find the ones that were for their viewing. He, however, was distracted by Angie's cries, as Kim walked down the stairs with her in her arms.

"Can you find it? I'll hold her for you," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head yes and went to find the videos in question. She was able to quickly locate them, but she noticed some rather odd things about the videos, on the whole. They were addressed to couples and it seemed Zordon had known much more than they did about themselves when he had left this planet. If only they had known these things then, maybe they would have been able to avoid some of the things that had happened.

"Tommy, there are videos for the others. We're going to have to make a trip to Angel Grove so that they will be able to hear whatever he wanted to say to them," Kim said, as she stuck in the first video and then came to sit down on the couch next to Tommy and gingerly took Angie out of his arms. She had to feed her child and then she was just hoping to hold herself together through these videos. She didn't know how easy that was going to be, but she was going to try and then just hope Tommy was ready for it all to come crashing down around him.

"Tommy, Kimberly. I know that this means I am gone if you are seeing this video and I know that it means Alpha has just left you, whether it be for the first or the third time, I do not know. These were my instructions to Alpha and I am sure that he followed him, down to labeling the videos for each of you. Please do not be mad at him. I wished for him to come and help, then leave you quickly. There are other rangers that need his help as well and he will always be there if you need the help," Zordon said, pausing to think and they didn't speak as they waited for him to continue. Tommy knew when that had been filmed and he could not believe how much confidence Zordon had had in them back then. It just seemed impossible, considering the circumstances that had been going on around them. He wished he would have learned more about Zordon's past, but it didn't seem like that was what he wanted to talk about at all. "Now, I know that you may not be together, but I had the hopes of seeing the two of you together in the same room without fighting, forgive me if I was wrong about how this would all turn out. I have never told either of you, but there is a box in the old Command Center, you may have found it already. Inside, there is half of a power coin, for each of you. I know that the both of you have been retired for years, but there may come a time in the near future when you are needed again. I emphasize may here, I really do think that you will be retired after Alpha leaves you all of these things. These coins hold remnants of all the powers you have ever had. If the time comes, come together and morph, it will protect from destruction during an unexpected battle. If your identity becomes known to the world, do NOT ever morph again, though. The public should not know, so only allow a few to get close enough to know it. Now, get some rest. You will need it."

"That was odd. Do you think he was talking about Mesogogg?" Tommy asked as Kim slumped closer to him. It now made sense why that coin had thrown her across the room, but she wondered what that meant for Aisha and Zack. They didn't have any protection because they could not open their boxes at all. Was that an omen or did Zordon, again, have a better idea of the future than they had?

"I don't know, but I hope that he was. Tommy, you want watch another one?" Kim asked, as Tommy nodded his head yes. Angie had fallen asleep against him, soon after Kim had passed him to her after her feeding, and Kim looked worried. She was afraid that they would eventually hear bad news from Zordon and she was not sure how to take that from him right now.

"Let the crying begin," Tommy muttered as a picture flashed on the screen and Kim stood behind the chair, unable to move. She had been shocked by Zordon, again and he was afraid that she would faint. "Kim?"

"Tommy, there is no way. He could not have been there to see that," Kim said quietly as Zordon appeared and Tommy walked up behind her and caught her by the waist. He had laid Angie down in the playpen before he had ran over to catch her, knowing that he was not going to have much time to do that if he walked.

"Catch her, Tommy. I know that she is a little bit surprised and no, I was not at your wedding, but I told Alpha to place the picture on here for you to see. Tommy, do you remember when I told you that she would come back to you? I know you do, but I can now tell you why I was so confident about it, when you barely believed the words coming out of my mouth. Before I came to Earth, there was a legend told to me about the rangers that I would work with. There were two rangers that were supposed to be the strongest and the surest of all, yet they would lose each other by a great mistake, for lack of a better word.

"I, at first, thought it would be Jason and Kimberly to fulfill this legend, but they did not. They were only ever friends and I found that out very soon after they became rangers. After a few months, I gave up on that prophecy and then the prophecy of the sixth ranger came true.

"Tommy, you were more than renewed hope to the team; you were the missing piece of the puzzle of the prophecy, but I did not realize it at first. That was my mistake and I should have warned the two of you, but I couldn't I am binded by a contract to not tell you anything. When the two of you fell in love, I hated to sit back and watch, knowing what was going to happen to the two of you. When Kim went to Florida, I began preparing others on the team for the inevitable, except for Katherine; she knew nothing of it. She was not supposed to know anything of it, she did not know the team as it was with Kim and she was better off not knowing about the prophecy. Tommy, everything that happened was predicted to me by those on my home planet. Down to Kimberly being captured by an evil force, long after she had given up her powers.

"Now, if life has blessed you as much as I think it has, I want you to listen well to me. There are some trials ahead, you may have faced them or they may still be to come, but do not allow it to break you. You are too strong and you have been through far too much. Now, since I know you did not rest after the first video, take her upstairs and do not watch anymore today. Think about all of this," Zordon ordered as Tommy nodded his head, Kim was still barely able to move, even in his arms.

"Tommy, why did Zordon tell us that? What does it have to do with us now?" Kim asked, as he turned her towards the stairs and went to go pick Angie up out of the playpen he had laid her in.

"Because he knew we would need some reassurance from all of it. You can't tell me that you've never thought about it," Tommy said, as Kim had sat down in the kitchen and was trying not to break down. She couldn't handle seeing Zordon again, after Alpha had left. She had barely been able to keep things straight in her mind when she was downstairs. It was getting much worse right now. "Kim, sweetie, it's getting close to supper. Do you want me to go into town to get us something?"

"Sure, but Tommy, when you get back, can you explain everything to me?" Kim asked, as he nodded his head and then placed Angie in her arms.

"I'll be back in a little while," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head and then took a deep breath. She really was going to be alone for awhile and she had no clue what to do right now.

Upon Return 

"When did this happen?" Kim asked, imploringly as Tommy merely looked down at his plate and sighed. He had to remember the details, but he knew the story by heart, he just had to tell it to her.

"Right after we got back from defeating Divatox. I came in hell bent to know the truth, to know everything that Zordon knew about us. He knew much more than I did and I knew he was holding something back. I insisted that he say something, anything to me. That was when he told me that you would come back. He didn't tell me when, he didn't tell me where, but he told me. That probably tested him more than anything else, he probably was not supposed to even tell me that much, but it gave me hope. That was all I needed, it gave me the strength to go ahead and do what I had to do. Kimberly, I've made a fool of myself several times in front of Zordon and the rangers, but this was the first time I ever felt that making a fool of myself got me a straight answer. It was well worth it," Tommy said with a smile as Kim sat there, still slightly confused. He had answered her question, but it still didn't seem to be enough.

"What exactly did you say to Zordon to make a fool of yourself Tommy?" Kim asked as he looked over at her and his face was slightly red.

"It's not appropriate to repeat in front of children, Kim," Tommy muttered as she laughed. That was a great excuse, she just wondered how long it would take her to pry it out of him.

"Thomas Oliver, what did you say?" Kim asked, again, as he sighed. He absolutely hated when she used his full first name, but it got him to answer about anything she wanted to know.

"I wanted to know what in the hell these evil people were thinking to take you, when they didn't even know a damn about you, more or less," Tommy said, as Kim gave him a hug. He was glad that she was happy with that answer. He was not sure if he could tell her the whole truth of that event.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, there are only two more chapters left and I hope that you will enjoy those as well!


	32. The Ending of an Era

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now, on with the Story!

_Closing the Door_

_Kim's POV_

Closing one chapter in your life never is an easy thing to do. It doesn't matter if it is the end of a high school basketball career or the end of a lifetime of dancing, it is hard to close the chapter without regretting have to leave it behind. We, the Power Rangers, are now asking ourselves to close that chapter in our lives, forever. To put away the fact that we were once rangers and to never let the world know about. This afternoon, Tommy and I will close the Command Center and hope that it stays closed, forever this time.

"Tommy, come on. Couldn't we do this another day? When the two of us are not so emotionally drained? Come on, we just lost Alpha a couple of days ago," Kim pleaded, as she didn't really want to go through with their plan, now that it was time to fulfill it. She had just laid Angie down for her afternoon nap and that left them with an hour or so to do what they had planned. It just seemed that both of them did not want to go through with it, at all.

"She's starting to crawl around, Kim. The last thing we need to happen is for her to roll down the stairs and onto the cement floor. You know that and we can't put it off much longer, for other reasons as well. Our friends at school want to see our home and we can't risk it because there is a command center, in use, under our kitchen," Tommy said, opening the hatch and ushering her down into the Command Center. There was not much left for them to do, as the others had helped once they had their powers taken away. They just had to lock up some things and then they could be on their way.

"Tommy, that's not the point and you know it. If they accidentally found out about it, I think we would live. Is everything going to stay down here?" Kim asked, as they had not yet decided on some of the items as of yesterday. Tommy walked over to the storage closet and opened a trunk, which held most of the remains from their ranger careers. That, certainly, had to be left down here and it was time for them to look at it and then put it away. They had to do it just to be able to go on, but they didn't want to say that.

"Yes, Kim. It might have to be used again and we'll need all of it around if that happens. You know that our generation will have to deal with it if we are still here," Tommy said, as Kim looked at him, hating that she felt old at the age of twenty-six.

He said he would never be involved with Power Ranger work again, but they both knew it wasn't so. If something happened right in front of them, they would have to do something. It was just in their nature and it was also a responsibility that they felt they had, even if it technically was not theirs or anyone else's.

"How are we sealing it?" Kim asked, as she kneeled down next to him and he silently wiped his own eyes. "Tommy, you said it was for the best. Come on, get what we'll need and we'll close it."

"Kim, I've been a ranger for so long. I don't know if I can live without being one now," Tommy said as Kim gave him a tight hug. She knew how he felt, they had never been married and not had some type of ranger work to do. It was hard to believe that this might be the last bit of ranger work they had left to do, for the rest of their lives.

"I know, come on, Tommy," Kim said, as he placed his arms around her and began weeping, which caused her to start crying as well. She had been doing fine until he became upset and then her own resolve to not cry had broken down. He had more ranger memories than she would ever have and she wouldn't have given anything to trade places, but she understood. He could say that almost everything good that had ever happened to him had been while he was a ranger, she couldn't say that, but she could understand him. She didn't like giving this up any more than he did. "Handsome, it's all right. We'll be fine."

"It's just hard Kim. We've never had to deal with something like this before ," Tommy said as he stood up and wiped his eyes. It was really much harder than he had expected it would be and now he was about to do what he had said he would do from the beginning. He was about to leave his ranger life behind, for good. He had never thought that this day would come, in his true fantasy, but this was reality and this was where he had to live with the people that he loved. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Kim said, as they turned to walk up the stairs and Tommy closed the trap door behind them. Jason and Trini were coming to visit later on tonight and they wanted to have this out of the way.

They would tell them that they had closed the command center and then they would not talk about it anymore. This was to be the last time they would talk about any of it openly. Their old way of life was about to be put away and they knew that the others would be reacting in a similar fashion, as they found out about it from them in the weeks to come.

_Night_

"Kim!" Jason yelled, as he opened the front door and saw that Tommy and Kim had already finished cooking dinner and just seemed to be waiting for them to arrive. They, however, were not in the front room and they could only imagine where they were.

"In the living room, Jase," Kim called, as Jason and Trini walked into see the two of them settled down on the couch, watching a rerun of ER. They seemed to be almost too calm for their liking, but there was really nothing that they could do about it.

"The two of you seem relaxed," Trini commented as she moved around the couch and sat down next to Kim, who was holding Angie, although she was wriggling to get down and onto the floor. Kim, however, was not going to let her since they would be eating soon. She never liked to be picked up from scooting around and she didn't want for Trini and Jason to see her being fussy, although they had seen it before, tonight was just not a good night for it.

"It's done. We can be relaxed. We don't have to stress about closing the command center anymore," Tommy said, as Trini looked over at him and Kim nodded to her that it was true.

They really had done what they had promised the rest of the rangers they would do. None of them had believed that they would close it on their own, they all thought that they were going to have to come here and do it for them, but they had surprised them. They had closed it willingly only a week after the other rangers said they needed to close it. That was after they all found out about Alpha leaving and they all agreed that this was for the best, even if it didn't make sense just yet. They may have been too optimistic, but that was the best way to live, especially in their shoes.

"You…you were able to close down the command center?" Jason asked, as Kim nodded her head yes. Jason reached over the back of the couch and settled both of his arms around Trini. "Are you all right with that?"

"Are you? Don't worry, we'll be fine Jason. We all knew that we were going to have to do this sooner or later. We might as well do this now," Kim said, as they had had the time to do so. She just knew that it was going to shock many of the others that they had been able to do this so soon. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing good. I have a doctor's appointment next week, you know how it is with the check-ups and everything," Trini said, as she patted her belly rather fondly and looked up at Jason, who seemed to have not wanted to change the subject so quickly.

"That's good," Kim said with a smile as Angie managed to wrap her hands around a few pieces of her hair, although she did not pull on it.

"What are we going to eat?" Jason asked, as a buzzer went off and Kim untangled Angie from her arms and handed her over to Tommy.

"Well, I have tacos in there, but if Trini's not up to eating that, then I can make her something else," Kim said, as Trini thought about what Kim probably had to go with the tacos and it sounded good to her tonight.

"I'll be fine with that," Trini said, as Tommy watched Jason eye her suspiciously. Now he didn't know if he believed her, but it certainly looked as if Jason didn't.

"You sure?" Jason muttered as Trini nodded at him with a smile. It actually sounded great to her, but Jason wouldn't believe that. She had refused his mother's Mexican food a few days before, but she had had a bad day that day. She didn't mean to offend anyone by the fact that she couldn't eat the food. She was sure that Jason didn't want to see her sick anymore and she hoped that he would understand it all.

"Do you want to eat in here or in the kitchen?" Kim asked, as Angie slapped Tommy and he gently grabbed her hands inside one of his. They were definitely going to have to teach her karate or gymnastics when she got older, she was already trying to beat him up and Kim was tired of getting her hair pulled. However, they agreed that she was too young to really try anything, except slapping her hand away.

"In the kitchen," Tommy said as he thought Angie seemed to be in the mood to throw anything they gave to her on the floor. They were just hoping they could save the carpet, for a few more weeks.

"Okay," Kim said, as she reached out and Angie quickly went into her arms. "How many times has she slapped you today?"

"Not that many," Tommy said as Jason and Trini sat down next to each other while Kim got some baby food out of the refrigerator. Angie was not quite ready to try tacos, although she would probably dig her hands into the meat anyway before the night was over.

"Can I?" Trini asked, as Kim started to feed Angie, but she looked over at Trini and handed her the spoon. She was more than welcome to practice all she wanted on feeding a child.

"You looking forward to this?" Tommy asked, while Kim fixed her plated and then looked up at Jason. She was interested to hear what he had to say about the situation. Sure, he had wanted to start a family, but they all had to admit that it happened much faster than they expected.

"Yes," Jason said, looking over at Trini with a fond gaze. Angie was eating her food very quietly tonight. She seemed to think that Trini was trying and she was not going to make her do things the hard way, the way that she did Tommy and Kim every night.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Kim asked out of curiosity. She had known that Jason and Trini had been arguing about whether or not they would find out. She just hoped they had smoothed that over or she might be opening a can of worms.

"I know, but she doesn't. We finally agreed on that much before our last visit," Jason said, as Kim nodded her head thoughtfully. She was going to gave to talk to Jason later about what to get for them. She had already started buying some things, but she had to get Trini back for her own baby shower. She still remembered some of the gifts that had pissed her off the most.

"We'll talk later," Kim said, as she took a bite of her food. It had been far to long since they had been able to sit down in peace and quiet.

"How do you ever eat?' Trini asked, as Kim picked Angie up and had her sit in her lap. She was bound to get cranky if she sat there for too long, but she was not risking her crawling around in the kitchen.

"Like this," Kim said and then took a bite and grabbed her plate before Angie pulled it off the table. She then swatted at Angie's hands, as Tommy calmly popped her hands as Kim missed. She looked up at him, but didn't cry. She just seemed a tad bit shocked. "At least she's stopped pulling my hair, I was starting to lose some."

"I thought Tommy would be the one worried about losing his hair," Jason said as Kim looked over at Tommy. Lucky him, he had short hair now.

"His hair is too short," Kim muttered as Tommy smiled. She liked it, but he could tell that she wished he would have left it long for as long as he could have.

"You know I had to cut it," Tommy said calmly, as Jason and Trini felt there might be an argument brewing, but Kim smiled. The time had long since passed when they fought over his decision to cut his hair, but it was always a subject that they like to joke around about, for the most part.

"By the way, when did you cut your hair?" Jason asked, as Kim's hair was now chin length and flipped.

"Last week. Angie managed to put a knot in it that we couldn't get out. I just decided to cut it," Kim said and Jason nodded his head. It was not really that bad and Tommy hadn't minded, too much. He said he liked it more now, but she knew he had to be lying.

"She's only a baby," Trini said, as Kim gave Trini a look. Babies could do much more than they imagined possible.

"That's what makes them innocent, but she still can manage to do some things that I would never have thought she would do," Kim said, as Angie finally let out a cry, as she wanted to get down and Kim looked down at her half finished plate. Everyone else had managed to finish their meal, but she had not been able to do that, due to the diversion tactics she had to use to even get the food in her mouth. "Take her Tommy, I'll finish my food, then come in there in a little bit."

"Kim, you sure?" Tommy asked, as he picked up the plates and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, go ahead and find something that we can watch on television," Kim said, as he took Angie out of her arms and then walked behind Jason and Trini into the living room.

"How often does that happen?" Trini asked, as she sat down and Jason then sat down next to her.

"More times than she would like, but it's either she sits in there and eats while I watch Angie or she doesn't eat at all. I don't usually risk her not eating," Tommy said as they two of them let out a laugh.

"Yeah, Tommy, you don't risk it. I wonder if she would consider it a risk," Jason said, as Kim had often times skipped meals in high school without Tommy knowing. None of them had had the most stable eating habits then, but after the power incident, Tommy did everything that he could, including watch her eat meals.

"I would now, Jason," Kim piped up from the kitchen, as Angie jerked her head up and looked around.

"Yeah, I know, you hear her but you can't see her," Tommy said as Angie looked at him.

"You talk to her like she really understands that," Trini said, as Tommy looked over at her. Angie understood a lot more than he wanted to admit at five months old.

"Kim does more of the baby talk and I promise you, it's not wasted," Tommy said, as Kim plopped down next to him on the couch.

"Yeah, but I'm the woman and you are the man, but don't say you haven't done it too," Kim said as Jason laughed. "What, do you think that you won't ever talk in baby talk?"

"I doubt it," Jason said, as Tommy looked at him skeptically.

"You will, don't be afraid to admit it," Tommy said, as Angie bounced up and down on his lap.

"Come on, Tommy, I don't think so," Jason said, as Trini smiled and placed Jason's hand on her belly.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one that was fascinated by that," Tommy said, as Jason looked over at him and although that would have been an invitation to move his hand away years ago, now he didn't care. The ridicule was worth almost anything.

"So, what exactly did Alpha have to say to you when he left?" Trini asked, as Tommy just shook his head. Alpha hadn't really left them in a good way. He had just gotten up and left and that was all that they could say about it.

"He just said it was time for him to go back to the Space Rangers, I guess that they need more help than we do," Tommy said, as they looked over at them.

"It's odd that Alpha didn't leave with more of a good-bye," Jason said, as it was Kim's turn to shake her head.

"He's not an emotional being, Jason. He did what Zordon wanted him to do and that was to come help us, then leave once we were stable," Kim said, as they knew that was the truth.

"I know, but I still miss him. You'd think that after you've given up the powers...what is it? Four times now? That all of us would be used to this type of thing," Jason said, as they nodded their heads. They had thought that they would be used to it, but they weren't, yet. It always came as a shock, every time that they lost their powers.

"Yeah, we should be used to it, but I don't think this was ever something that Zordon was supposed to teach us to cope with. We were so far apart thelast time that we lost our powers with him and how was he supposed to counsel all of us in that situation?" Kim asked, as they realized that Angie was struggling to get down and Tommy bent over to put her on the floor.

"Zordon always left us with options, though. We never had to choose to leave or to stay,the powers were what told us to do whatever it was supposed to beand we just went along with it. There is not much that we can really accept about that, we just would lose everything," Trini said, as Kim nodded her head. They really had lost everything in those days. They had lost each other, they had lost faith in themselves, and finally they had put the nails in their own coffins to keep them seperated.

"I'm glad that we are close enough this time to take care of each other. We don't have to worry about messing up too much," Kim said, as Tommy nodded his head. If she had been heading to some other state after all of this, he was afraid that he couldn't do it. Yeah, they were married, but things always changed in the ranger world and he had prayed that wouldn't be a change.

"Yeah, you mean that you don't have to worry about messing up," Jason joked, as Angie rammed her head into the recliner and then let out a cry.

"Ang...why you gotta do that?" Kim asked as she walked over and picked her up and spun around. "Aw, it's alright. You want Daddy to kiss it and make it better?"

"Whah!" Angie continued to cry as Tommy stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead and she didn't stop.

"Come here, sweetie," Tommy said, as Kim handed her over and Tommy tossed her into the air a couple of times and then she gave him a toothless smile.

"This is too easy for the two of you," Trini commented as Tommy set Angie back on the floor, and steered her away from the recliner.

"It's not always easy Trini, we have just kinda gotten used to it," Kim said, as Trini yawned and Jason looked up at the clock, which read nine. He didn't want to leave, he really wanted to stay, but he knew that if Trini didn't get to sleep soon, he was going to have to deal with it in the morning.

"I guess that we better leave," Jason said, as Trini glared up at him. "Trini, I have to go into work early tomorrow and I don't know if I can deal with you being in a bad mood."

"Jase, I'll be fine. I'm not that tired and I don't have to get up early tomorrow. I went ahead and took the day off," Trini said, as Jason just looked at her.

"Why did you do that?" Jason asked, as Kim and Tommy tried to sink further into the couch and out of sight.

"Because I knew that you would want to stay late. We don't get to see them like we used to," Trini said, as Jason gave her a hug.

"I'm so lucky," Jason muttered, as Trini smiled as him.

"No, I think that I'm the lucky one, Jase," Trini said with an even brighter smile and the baby kicked against Jason's arm again.

"It's somebody's bedtime," Kim said, as Angie was now tugging at her pants. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes.

"Okay," Tommy said, as Jason and Trini broke themselves out of their world and watched Kim walk out of the room.

"Did we do something wrong?" Jason asked, as Tommy laughed.

"No, it's Angie's bedtime," Tommy said, as Jason nodded and Trini gazed up the stairs. She couldn't wait to have her baby there.

"So, when little one here is born, are we going to let the two of them play together?" Trini asked, as Tommy laughed.

"Of course, with any luck the two of them will be as good of friends as we are. It'll be rough on them if they aren't friends," Tommy said with a smile and Trini flinched a little. "Strong baby, right?"

"Of course, always strong," Trini said. "I think those powers I had made this baby a little bit stronger."

"If you talk to Kim about it, I'm sure that she would feel the same. Angie about killed her some nights," Tommy said, as Kim walked back down the stairs with a look of aggravation in her eyes. "Did she give you a hard time tonight?"

"No, she didn't, but she managed to get ahold of my hair again," Kim said, as she sat down next to him and he started pulling out the knot.

"Jason, you were right, we really do need to be heading home," Trini said, as Jason nodded his head.

"Jase, before you leave, can I talk to you?" Kim asked, as Tommy looked over at her and then started to help Trini towards the door.

"You know what she's going to ask him," Trini said, as Tommy nodded his head and smiled at her.

"She can't resist it. Plus, the plans that she has for you, are nothing compared to what you did to her," Tommy said, as Trini laughed.

"I didn't think that I would be able to top her, but thanks, Tommy," Trini said, as Jason walked back over to her and then gave Kim a hug good-bye.

"We'll see you in a couple of weeks," Jason said as Tommy nodded that they would indeed see each other then.

"Bye!" Kim called as they walked outside and the two of them waved back.

They then sat back and relaxed. They were rangers no more, they still had their friends, a wonderful family, and even better each other. The ranger world was now empty to them and many others that had formerly been there. The ranger world felt a hole in itself for the first time, but they would always be there. They were always the Power Rangers.

AN: Okay, there is an epilogue left. I'm not going to leave you hanging about so many things, but I really hope that you have enjoyed this series. I'm going to take a couple of weeks off once I've finished this series to work on some of my other projects and then deliver them to you. Review if you wish!


	33. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.

Now on with the Story!

_Epilogue_

"Wow," Tyler said, as he stared up at his parents. He hadn't really meant for all of this to be told to him, but once his mother started, it was obvious to him that nothing would stop her. It seemed to him that she had been wanting to tell him all of this for a long time.

"That is the story of your grandparent's adventure through life," Angie said, with a sniffle, as Tyler turned around and stared at his mother, with awe present in the young child's eyes. His father was sitting on the other side of Angie and carefully watched as their son registered everything that had just been told to him. Alex had barely been able to believe it when he was younger and he imagined what it was like for Tyler to hear it. The story seemed almost impossible to have happened, but it had and that was what made it such a huge secret in their families.

"Mama is that really the truth about Nana, Poppy, Mic-Maw, and Grandpa Jase?" Tyler Scott asked, as his mother had just finished telling the story of his grandparents to him. He was confused to hear that this was what his grandparents had been, as they never mentioned their old life, to anyone, much less him or their other grandchildren.

He had only known about the Power Rangers, because it was his favorite show to watch on Saturday morning and he also was allowed to watch it any time at his grandparents, which made more sense now, but a few years ago, he didn't think anything of it. They just wanted him to be happy and that made him happy.

"Yes, Tyler," Angie said, wiping a few tears away from her eyes, as Alex put an arm around his wife. They had known that there would be a time in which they had to tell their children everything, but they had hoped that it would have been later on down the road, but it seemed that today was the day that Tyler finally got curious about the mystery basement in Nana and Poppy's house. The basement that no people were ever allowed to go into but the two of them and their friends and they rarely did that at all now.

That was what ultimately led her to tell this story to her son, as he finally decided to ask questions about it. She loved her parents and everything that they had done for this world and this universe, for that matter, but what a great price they had, had to pay for other people's continued safety. They had given up so much precious time to protect the unborn and the elderly of this world and others from distant planets, if they were called to do so. They had been members of the first and last Power Ranger teams, to ever protect the Earth, which was rather fitting for them.

She, herself, had not known about them being rangers, until she ventured into the basement of their home one day in the winter of 2018. Her parents had always kept her out of the basement, saying there was only junk down there and she didn't need to be down there, it could be dangerous. On that fateful day 'Uncle' Jason asked her to go down there and grab some extra blankets, they were going camping that weekend. That was when she discovered the command center that they had been hiding from her since she was born.

It was a lot for a thirteen-year-old to take in, but when she emerged from the basement, she saw her father watching her and could tell he was ready to answer the questions that had formed in her mind. Although he did seem to be a little bit disturbed at how 'Uncle' Jason had asked her to discover the command center. 'Uncle' Jason and 'Aunt' Trini's son, her future husband, Alex Scott stood there and listened to the explanation of it all as well. He was only a little under a year younger than she was at the time and they both didn't understand the story at all. How could their parents be the real version of the television shows they used to watch, all the time? It didn't seem like it was possible for that to even happen to them. It was just some story that producers loved to twist and turn into things that could not be true. It could have never happened on Earth, but all of the proof lay in the concealed basement.

_Angie's POV_

Dad did the best that he could to explain it to us, although I never really understood it until they showed me the video diary they had made for Conner, Kira, and Ethan, although he had added some things since the first time it was shown. It showed me everything, from the very beginning, before he was even a ranger, to the very last battle they had ever fought in together, which seemed sad to think about.

They had lived so much of their life under that duty and they never thought that it would end the way that it did. That last battle was horrific for them and I discovered on that day how lucky I was to have both of my parents still with me. They both came close to dying during that last battle and I don't know what would have happened if either of them had passed.

I was scared, that all of it would come back into my life, that things would come after them again, but they assured me that it wouldn't happen this time and if it did, they were always here to protect the Earth. It was their job; their duty and they would never abandon it. They had promised that they would do this until their dying day, if necessary and they are still willing to suit back up, to this very day. I don't know if that is wise for them now, but I would never say that to them. I do know, however, that Conner has a place prepared if there is ever a need for another command center after my parents' generation of rangers die, which is not a subject I like to talk about. They're only in their fifties' but weirder things have happened in the past than them dying young. Most of them didn't expect to make it to their twentieth birthday after the challenges that continued to come up, but they somehow made it through the problems.

I hadn't realized that I had been born during Mesogogg's sphere of influence, until I saw that movie and the dates that were displayed for those last battles. My Mom and Dad were much more brave than I could have been with all of this, even at the age I am now. I couldn't have left my child when something like that was happening, but they just seemed to understand it all. It is more a part of their life than anything else is, well besides maybe karate and gymnastics is to them.

Mom was pregnant with me while she was still a ranger and there are no telling how many times Dad rushed home from a battle to make sure that the she was alright. I know that it was always a worry in the back of his mind that she would be taken, I've learned that much from Jason. Alex's parents went through the same thing and it is a common bond that can not be broken between the two of us, we are the first pair of ranger kids to get married and Tyler is now nine years old, the first ranger grandchild. He's our only one, but we are just happy to have him in our life, after everything that could have gone wrong in our lives, that we didn't even know about for awhile.

After that last battle, Hayley and Billy got married and they have three children, Anna, Jake, and Sydney, who all have strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes, although Anna tends to take after Billy the most out of the three. She is heading off to MIT in a few weeks, which was his dream before he went to Aquitar. She knows about the foreign planet and has often asked Billy what it was like there, but he refuses to ever let her visit. I don't blame him, it's his child, and he doesn't want to lose her to some one else on another planet. He knows just how close he was to never returning to Earth himself.

Adam and Katherine tried for a long time to have kids, but in the end, they adopted a little girl, whom they named Alexis. Dad took a quick liking to her, as he was adopted too and now Alexis is one of my best friends. She brings the calmness to the group of us when we get together, as the rest of us share the traits of our parents far too much. They often tell us that we would have been rangers if there were still rangers around, although that is not something that comforts any of us. We don't know if we could bear the responsibilities that well.

Rocky and Ally were married soon after the last battle as well and they have one child, Maria Allison Desantos. Ally almost died while giving birth to Maria, which made them decide that it was best to leave it at one child and none of us know what Rocky would have done if she died. Ally was Rocky's saving grace when he was going through a really hard time and if he had lost her after defeating Mesogogg, we might have lost him as well. Maria is like another sister of mine, as we were both, basically, raised at the dojo, which I have to admit, was a lot of fun for me and my siblings. We never ran out of things to do around there, trust me.

Aisha and Zack had two little ones, James and Danielle, who have recently finished college. Although the two of them went through a rough patch for awhile there, we are all glad that they finally got themselves together enough to get married and give us two more comedians.

Trini and Jason have another boy, Mitchell who looks more like Trini, as Alex seemed to inherit Jason's looks, which I have to say I enjoy, not that Mitchell looks horrible. He's just not my type. Mitchell is engaged to be married to Sydney Cranston in a few months, which was something that we all saw coming, since they were very young. As close as Trini and Billy are, I'm surprised that Alex didn't fall for Anna, although she is a great deal younger than the rest of us. She's about five years younger than I am, but we all kinda grew up as brothers and sisters, which I am sure that I have said several times already.

That leaves my parents, Tommy and Kimberly, who had two other children, Thomas Jason "Jase" Oliver and Charlotte "Sharlie" Amanda Oliver. As you can see, none of us are called by our full names, our parents weren't too fond of that, unless they were mad and that was when they would call out our full name, in front of anyone present. My brother and sister both were shocked when they found out the truth about our parents past, but they no longer have to keep their secret, not from their families, at least. It is safe for us to know about it, although we do not let the information get into untrustworthy hands.

When I think back, to everything that happened, all those years ago, I am truly thankful that it did happen. I am thankful for Zordon, who brought the rangers back together, to defeat Nicarni-Aso. For Jason, making my parents speak to each other, after a five-year absence in each other's life. For Alpha and Hayley watching after me, when Mom and Dad went on those last missions, to defeat Mesogogg and Lord Zedd and bring their ranger work to an end. But most of all, I am thankful for my parents and all of the other rangers doing what they did for all of us. If they had not been willing to give up everything, to protect this world, I would probably not be here now. My parents would have never met and none of these friendships would have been forged. They think it was well worth it and I have to agree with them. For the people who say that they never existed, they are just a mere myth, and a legend of California folklore, I want them to know, they did and do exist. My Mom and Dad will be more than willing to tell you their story, anytime you ask.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this story and really like this last chapter, I'm going to take a couple of weeks to get my thoughts together and then I'm going to go pounding away on another one of my stories.


End file.
